Kannur: Thalassery, the ancient town in the Kannur district is set to house a library of paintings, touted to be the first in Kerala. The library will lend paintings for a certain period on a fixed rent. The library, a first in the cooperative sector in the country, will start functioning in July and the organisers are expecting around 50 paintings from various parts of the country.

The Kadirur Cooperative Bank near Thalasseri is implementing this unique concept in its building. There will be two types of membership categories with a membership fee of Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000.

“Fifty artists from different parts of the country are ready to provide their paintings including the paintings of the Lalithakala Academy Chairperson Murali Cheeroth. The members can renew the pictures every six months or they can purchase them if they are interested,” Ponniam Chandran, Sahithya Award Committee Convenor of Kadirur Bank and former Lalithakala Academy Secretary said.

He said that the artists are ready to provide the paintings for free to the library in a compatible size. “If a rented person is interested in purchasing the painting, we would sell it with a deduction of 20 per cent from the actual cost. The library will charge a 15 per cent commission and give 65 per cent of the price of the painting to the artist. The library will use the amount for running the library and the maintenance,” said Chandran.

Lalithakala Academy has already offered its full support to the venture. A person from any part of Kerala can avail the membership of the library Kadirur Panchayat has started the first art gallery under a local body. The organisers aim to have 100 paintings within a year. They hope it will become one of the centres of attraction among the cultural spectrum of the country.

"People are reluctant to buy the original paintings due to various reasons. The higher prices of such art are letting the public choose duplicate prints of the paintings in their home or office. The library offers benefits to both the artists and the painting lover. A person can hire a piece of painting to beautify home or office space at an affordable rate,” Ponyan Chandran added.