Making textile is considered itself an art practice in antiquity. The continuing exercise of creating and transforming the richness of the cloth in the contemporary art world is an enduring activity. Weavers are indigenous art practitioners engaging with cultural settings in old times, creating clothes for wear, and imaging artistic identity through making the clothes. […]
‘vede rāmāyane caiva purāne bhārate tathā ādāv ante ca madhye ca harih sarvatra gīyate’- Bhagavad Gita Imagine, you are in a meditative loop and you wait for the religious experience to happen which could be in the form of a set of “emotions” or “feelings”. Now, how do these insights or experiences help us orient […]
When we go through the history of Modern Art we find how French modernists were liberated from the age-old conventional naturalistic and photorealistic trends in art. Modern French painters started exploring alternative art forms of other countries breaking all the national boundaries for the creation of revolutionary art styles. In Picasso’s phenomenal creative venture of […]
A mention of artist Bikash Bhattacharjee brings to mind the large repertoire of his spellbinding portraits, which depicted Bengali people from different classes and social milieus, especially women. Portraying his subjects with minute details of their form and depth in their gaze, the artist deftly mastered the effects of light and shadow that rendered his […]
War has always been devastating, irrespective of the time period in history, whenever it has happened. From mythology to the beginning of our civilisation, to the modern day ‘civilised’ man, it has been a “tool” to kill, abuse power, destroy, loot and plunder, thereby leaving a trail of destruction, disruption and suffering. Every time, setting […]
Located in the tri-junction of East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia, the peripheral region called ‘Northeast India’ is situated between a complex network of rivers, hills, and forests. Endless hills turn into flat fields, fields turn into forests, forests turn into habitats, and these habitats, in turn, produce specific knowledge systems and philosophies. Before […]
In the backdrop of massive state repression – as witnessed in murders, rapes, illegal deten-tions and custodial tortures – that defines Bastar today, a spirited ‘August Kranti- Tiranga Padyatra’ was organized in Bastar this August. Various political parties and groups as well as concerned individuals are part of the “Bastar Bachao Sanjukt Sangharsh Samiti” which […]
The idea of the space between what was possible before and what could be possible later; after a crisis or a major historical event, is related to what I consider the appropriate territory for my art practice. A ‘crisis’ can be understood as an inner struggle (thesis) and ‘historical event’ as an outer socio-political struggle […]
I took the Rajdhani express from Sealdah Station for Delhi on 14th January to join the farmers’ movement. Immediately after reaching Delhi the next day, I straightway went to the Head office of the All India Kissan Sabha (AIKS). I first met Comrade Hannan Mollah to plan my visit to the Delhi border to know […]
Dilara Begum Jolly has addressed pain and injustice in her work. She has sifted through the stream of contemporary events to focus on the pain and violence inflicted on the weak by the strong, the inconsistencies and insensitivity that is bred in a world driven by power and wealth. Jolly’s work has always vibrated with […]
Time, Coincidence and History, in the main, is a space for crystallizing the vestiges of colonial and postcolonial history covering in its broad sweep the legacies of social-political conflicts, religious parochialism that places identity over piety, and, finally, the body as a carrier of the pathologies of time. This intermedia art exhibition places in an […]
Pushpamala, dressed as Mother India in an elaborate costume popularised in Indian mythological films and television, with two extra papier- mache arms and wearing a mask, walks in a stately manner to the cooking area followed by Manasa dressed in a full PPE suit with mask, gloves and foot covering, carrying a tasseled velvet cushion […]
Thinking of Somnath Hore my memory goes back to the early years of the decade of 1960 when he was teaching at the art department of the Delhi Polytechnic. I must have met him in 1962 when his coloured etching The Birth of a White Rose got the National Award since I too had received […]
Defined as a “form of autobiographical writing”, implying thereby that it is primarily written “for the writer’s use alone” as distinct from writing done for publication, the diary is usually viewed as a document that is intensely personal, and therefore frank in its record. However, there are ample examples that such intimate records can transcend […]
As artist Somnath Hore’s centenary date passes-by rather solemnly, any endeavour to assess his artistic accomplishments has to be apprehended as an act of momentous volume. Somnath Hore (1921-2006), despite his long career as a practicing artist, remains somewhat a lesser-known individual in the centre-stage of Indian visual arts. His unequivocal obsession with his virtually […]
Searching lines and the quest for indigenous in Abstraction: Worlding of Klee and the Indian Moderns Abstractionism and Conceptualism as an influence was seen in the years of the 1940s and 1960s. These two can be attributed to the post-colonialism in India. There was an attempt to locate the endogenous through the local practices and […]
‘Mahisasurmardini’: Myth, traditions and Art – Apurva Sinha “Tvam-Iishvarii Devi Caraa-Carasya “-.Narayani Stuti (of Devi Mahatmyam) ‘O Devi, You are the Goddess of all the Moving and Non-Moving Beings’ Incantation to the Devi, who is the mother of all; she is the power of progeny and well being. I, begin with this verse of Narayani […]
Oral Histories to Material Culture The making of autochthonous art Origin of Shame and Sorrow Vikas HARISH for Naithani Collection Aesthetic academic thought and the ‘translation’ of Indian arts first gave expression through the religious texts, the Vedas, the Upanishads and their explicatory texts. The performance was indeed the visual narration of stories that were […]
ADDA Rendez-vous in Paris with Subodh Gupta Franck Barthelemy Subodh Gupta was invited to participate in acreative residency at La Monnaie de Paris lastFebruary. He worked with the highly skilledartisans of France’s historical mint who hadmade thousands of medals throughout the last century. The artist created with them a Florentine bronze medal. He had access […]
VOIICE FOR WOMEN: K.A. Abbas & Guru Dutt Dr. Seema Bhalla Though not being of sceptical temperament, onecannot help but recount and ponder over various programmes that were organised on the International Women’s Day and wonder how many were relevant and sincere beyond that specific day. A programme based on women who are ordinary and […]
Saga of Power Play in Art : Sumati Gangopadhyay It’s a global reality, which Kavita has so superbly through artistic expression presented in her magnificent prints. Her own Ganjifa card is a photo etching relief print created on Somerset paper titled ‘Rezia’ which talks about queen Rezia Sultan and represents feminine power. As I walked […]
Abdur Rahman Chughtai: Unfolding a Pakistani Artist’s Association with the Bengal School of Art Mallika Chakrawarti Abdur Rahman Chughtai was one of Pakistan’s leading personalities in art. It is interesting to note that Chughtai shares his legacy with India, for he was born in Lahore, erstwhile British India, in 1897. His skills as a painter, […]
Beyond Gender The Works of Li Xinmo Ansel Smith Feminist Theorist Li Xinmo has been one of the most vibrant Chinese contemporary female artists in recent years, born in the late 197’s in Heilongjiang Province, Yilan County. Her works primarily deal with issues such as gender, ethnicity, the environment and national politics, with a strong […]
Choti Tekam: Where Lyrics are Images , the Forest her Palette Vikas Harish Choti Tekam was born in a distant Gond village in the Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh, where the forest and the villagers were close neighbours. Fields were green and pastures abundant, and the children learnt to live in harmony with nature. In […]
Lessons in Womanhood Lina Vincent Sunish Six artists share a single work each, and talk about how they use their art as women, to express themselves and also to negotiate the complexities that are patterned around gender discourse. Readers are invited to enter into the simple experience of how anartist thinks through the idea of […]
Ashutosh Deb: Life and times Asudev wouldn’t have taken up the challenge to traverse his journey into the realms of visual art unless he had the whole hearted support of his wife, Bela who had her schooling at Kala Bhavana Santiniketan. It was because of her efforts that Asudev could create such huge work that […]
A STUDY OF TRIBAL ART AND CULTURE OF BASTAR, CHHATTISGARH PINKI PRIYA For so long Chhattisgarh was a ‘terra –incognito’ for the historical world. It was the second half of the 20th century when historian and researchers attempted to draw the history, culture and tradition of Chhattisgarh. Although Chhattisgarh is a nascent state but its […]
AJRAKH: SINDH TO BARMER MADAN MEENA The block-printing Khatri community of Barmer recognize themselves as Bhram-Kshatriya (Hindu clan). This has relation to a popular mythical story – when Parshuram was eliminating every Kashtriya from the earth, he reached Sindh where two of the Kashtriya devotees of Hinglaj Mata went into hiding in her temple and […]
FRAMING THE INDIGENOUS: DISCOURSES OF FEMINIZATION OF AESTHETICS THROUGH THE ORNAMENTAL AND THE DECORATIVE IN ALPONA IN EARLY 20THC.BENGAL DR. APARNA ROY BALIGA Early twentieth century Bengal saw the redesigning of the cultural sphere during the upsurge of the Swadeshi movement. ‘The two central themes in this context are the familial social space designated as […]
AIPAN MOTIFS: IMPLICATION OF CULTURE, TRADITION AND RELIGION IN THE LIFE OF KUMAONIS OF UTTARAKHAND ANIRBAN DHAR “In Art, Man reveals himself and not his objects.” Every region in India has its own style and pattern of Folk art. The folk and Tribal arts of India are very ethnic and simple, and yet colourful and […]
KOYA ADIVASI ART FORMS BHADRACHALAM, KHAMMAM DISTRICT, TELANGANA STATE ARCHANA SONTI The story of the Koyas goes back to pre-historic times. They seem to have had a highly evolved civilization in the past in which they were a ruling Tribe. Koyas are one of the few multi-lingual and multi-racial tribal communities living in India. They […]
STORIES ON SKIN NEHA MATHRANI In the Baiga community, it is both sexes that ink their bodies with the intricate designs, called Godna. However it is for women especially that the tattoos are singular markers of identity. The women are well known for their elaborate body art.The tattooing is carried out by women tattoo artists […]
OF THE HOUR GLASS AND THE MOVIN G IMAGES OF ETERNITY IN THE WORKS OF SANGEETA GUPTA Dr. Aparna Roy Baliga Shiva, the ultimate creator, does his Tandava to destroy all that has become irrelevant and unnecessary, and in the process creates a new world order. The time and space zones only exist in our […]
The Color of Wat er : Tarshito Katie Lazarowicz As a part of a world tour Tarshito was seeking a Gond artist to represent India in “The Path of the Wayfarer in Love,” an enormous scroll which will travel to a total of eight countries. Venkat was honored to contribute. He painted a playful a […]
