“Art doesn’t belong to any specific group of people. Everyone has a share of it and everyone deserves to be part of its making, viewing, and experience,” says Prasanna Venkatesh, the brain behind Kannadi Cupboard, a community-driven art/event space in Chennai, India. 

Designed as an “everyday gallery,” which involves everyone in art – unlike more traditional spaces aimed at just artists and designers – Kannadi Cupboard was conceived by Prasanna and his sister Keerthana Alageshan – both design students – as a space that invites us to create, showcase, and engage with art regardless of our background.

“Most traditional art spaces are made for a closed community. With Kannadi Cupboard, we wanted everyone, irrespective of their background or what they do for a living, to be able to interact with whatever we display or do here,” explains Prasanna. 

Rooted in inclusivity and a sense of comfort, he delves into the journey behind establishing Kannadi Cupboard, saying, “During my undergrad program, my interest in self-publishing grew, and after I graduated, I started self-publishing on a small scale, making zines, photobooks, and smaller self-published material by myself.  I wanted to explore multiple avenues and test the waters, as I could see myself starting a publishing house someday. This journey took me to some amazing places in Chennai, Bangalore, and Mumbai. The nature of these venues was extremely comfortable and domestic in most cases, almost like opening up your living room for an exhibition. Having spent a lot of time in white-box galleries, which had intimidated me all along, these spaces felt like a breath of fresh air. It was new to me. The range of spaces I got to interact with was so different from the ones I was previously exposed to.” 

“When I shared pictures and stories of these places with my parents, they became keen on starting something similar in our city. Since they already had a vacant space, it felt doable. My sister and I set out to put together a space that resembled a living room. With a set of objects that worked like a capsule wardrobe, the idea was to reinvent the space every time using limited resources. The different permutations and combinations of these objects would result in completely new setups, making the space look different each time. No two events look the same!” he continues. 

What started as a simple project intended to make art feel more accessible has evolved over the last nine months, revealing its potential to be a pocket-friendly event/ community space that can be rented out to anyone who desires to create, put on a show, or plan an event and invite people to engage.

Though Prasanna has not approached the project as a long-term idea, Kannadi Cupboard has grown naturally. He reflects, “I didn’t look at it as something long-term. After the launch last December, we also started the Zine Club that runs throughout the year. We understood that people enjoyed hand-crafting and doing things with their hands, so we had a collage week, and we also explored things with food. One thing has always led to another, so it’s always intuitive. We don’t plan things way in advance; it’s planning one event and executing it, and then doing things further based on how it’s received. We try to be as versatile as possible. It’s not just art, it’s also about coming together and sharing stories. We try to have events where everyone can be involved.” 

Speaking of how the space brings a variety of people together, Prasanna adds, “We recently had a book viewing session with a group of people, and there was one participant in her late 60s. We don’t usually see people from that age group step in, share their work and interact with us, so this was a moment of realisation for us that people from every age group are keen to get involved,” he continues, “In another instance, we had a focus group on self-publishing as a practice. We also had people from different age groups in attendance. It was well-rounded as we got opinions from people with different lived experiences.”

While he doesn’t have any clear-cut plans for the future, he emphasises that self-publishing is at the core of everything Kannadi Cupboard does, adding, “We have ideas of starting a publishing house under Kannadi Cupboard’s name, which would be a long-term plan.” 

One small step in the direction of self-publishing is their latest event – a self-published book fair  called PADITHAVUDAN KIZHITHUVIDAVUM. Held between September 19-21, the event will feature a diverse line-up of individual and independent publishers from various cities, including Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi. On what inspired the event, he says, “I’ve always liked to visit art book fairs, and I wanted something similar in Chennai. We wanted something that didn’t focus only on mainstream publishing. We wanted to bring art books, zines, comics – different self-published material from different angles. When we started the space, something we were looking forward to all along was the book fair. It was something we were keen on doing right from the beginning.” 

A quaint space that seeks to erase the boundaries that crop up in the art community, Kannadi Cupboard is open to hosting people from all walks of life. Reflecting on what he’d like to see in the future, Prasanna says, “Right now, a lot of people involved here are the artist and designer community. I’d like more people outside to come in and see what’s in here. This would open up so much for them and for us as well.” 

Check out @kannadi.cupboard on Instagram to support more inclusive art/community spaces. 

Written and interviewed by Malvika Padin

Featured image (A spread from Kannadi cupboard photobook) contributed by Karthiknathan Sowbaghyanathan

_{View of the Arts is an online publication dedicated to films, music, and the arts, with a strong focus on the Asian entertainment industry. With rich content already available to our readers, we aim to expand our reach and grow alongside our audience by delving deeper into emerging platforms such as K-pop and Asian music more broadly. At the same time, we remain committed to exploring the vibrant and ever-evolving global landscape of film, music, and the arts, celebrating the immense talent and creativity that define these industries worldwide.}