Profile

Kanai Kunhiraman has been chosen for the prestigious 'Raja Ravi Varma Puraskaram' for his outstanding contribution to art and culture.

Kunhiraman becomes the first sculptor to bag the award instituted by the Department of Culture, Government of Kerala, in memory of widely acclaimed painter Raja Ravi Varma.

The award, including Rs one lakh, a citation and a statue, sculptured by Kunhiraman himself, will be conferred on him by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at Thiruvananthapuram.

Other artists, who won the award earlier were, K.G. Subramanian (2001), M.V. Devan (2002), A. Ramachandran (2003) and Vasudevan Naboodiri (Aritst Namboodiri) (2004).

Kanai Kunjiraman is one of the outstanding sculptors Kerala has ever produced. With his extra ordinary and inborn artisanship, he has produced beautiful and exquisite sculptures.

Unleashing his delicate and charming aesthetic feelings and creativeness, Kanai has tried to conjure up the images of nature and its related beauty in its entire magnitude.

He has been instrumental in popularizing the sculpture-related art form hitherto unfamiliar to the common man. He wants his sculptures to be seen as an offshoot of his creative thinking. As for Kanai, it is for his mental satisfaction that he makes sculptors.