An artist goes green in the Western Ghats

Arunkumar HG's SARA Centre in Karnataka revives lakes and reconnects students and artists with the environment

- Meera Menezes

It is an orchestra like no other. The croaking of the Malabar gliding frog is interspersed with the deafening crescendo of the cicadas.

Accompanying them is the pitter-patter of rain as it glides down the leaves of the trees surrounding the SARA (Sustainable Alternatives for Rural Accord) Centre in Dombekoppa village in Shivamogga district of Karnataka. The monsoon has finally made an appearance in this part of the Western Ghats.

The lush foliage surrounding the centre might beguile a visitor into thinking that the landscape has remained unaltered for decades, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Fifteen years ago, Delhi-based artist Arunkumar HG, 58, decided to undertake the Herculean task of rewilding the five acres of family land on which SARA stands today.

“In 2011 or so, after my show at Nature Morte (Delhi), I was thinking whether I should continue the way I was working,” says the artist. “Doing art in the urban studios and talking about ecology and agriculture issues felt very superficial to me.” A quote by the American artist Andy Warhol proved inspirational: “I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art that anybody could ever want.”

This gave him the much-needed impetus to spend more time in the Ghats. The flourishing forest the artist has nurtured over 15 years now boasts 40 different kinds of bamboo species and a multitude of trees native to the region. It stands in stark contrast to the areca nut and acacia mono-culture plantations that have sprung up across the ecologically sensitive region, threatening bio-diversity.