India’s only daily art newspaper
By Aliya Usmani When the Mughal Emperor Akbar heard of the arrival of the first Jesuit Mission led by Rudolph Aquaviva and Monserrate from Goa, he immediately headed to the chapel in Fatehpur Sikri. He took off his turban, shook off his long dark hair and in respect, Akbar prostrated in front of Christ and […]
What is Jesus Doing in Mughal Miniatures? Read More »
On a cursory glance, Sudhir Patwardhan’s cityscapes might look akin to Edward Hopper’s paintings. But while Hopper’s scenes often show figures in solitude against the backdrop of the geometrically laid-out Western city, Sudhir’s canvases are often brimming with toiling bodies struggling in a bustling Indian city in construction. The Social backdrop of Sudhir’s Patwardhan’s visual
Sudhir Patwardhan: Painter of the Particular Read More »
By Vinay Seth Delhi Art Week, a unique “phygital” collaboration While happy to connect, the Delhi Art Week team began the conversation by expressing their disagreement with and disappointment over a particular point in my coverage pertaining to their effort — they stressed that the apple-to-apple comparison of the Delhi Art Week with the Delhi
By Vinay Seth Are you aware that there exists an art gallery exclusively dedicated to children in the southern part of the country, Hyderabad? Yes, The Children’s Fine Arts Gallery is located right next to the Daira Center for Arts & Culture in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. They organise an annual Children’s Arts Festival, and this
Expanding the \’Daira\’ of Art: A Children’s Art Festival from Hyderabad Read More »
By Vinay Seth Back-to-back schedule: A lucky coincidence for Delhi art lovers! Anahita Taneja, Director of Shrine Empire Gallery, informed me that the Delhi Art Week and the Delhi Contemporary Art Week being back-to-back affairs this year was a lucky coincidence. “Bikaner House needed to be booked months in advance, and we had no idea
Continued from Part 1. Beginnings Early to mid-twentieth century Bengal produced some very fervent artistic developments. Whether it was through the Revivalism pioneered by Abanindranath Tagore, or the Modernism embraced by the Government School of Art, Calcutta, visual art in Bengal gained from such different undercurrents. One undercurrent that had its roots outside the art
Somnath Hore: Communist Beginnings Read More »
Continued from Part 3. “Buddha and Mahavir were able to make progress only through their own experience, and that why I see art and spirituality being connected in this land. We will have to have conversations like those in the Upanishads, by immersing ourselves in art, and thereby with our artworks. We will have to
Himmat Shah, Part 4: Finding bliss through clay, and the Self through bliss Read More »
Continued from Part 2. According to Himmat Shah, an artist should be a very sensitive person, who could experience art at the very subtle levels and could give unmatched form to their own artworks. So that the unmatchable quality of their individuality stays in their work, and when faced with doubt, they could search for
Himmat Shah, Part 3: Deep Immersion through Clay Read More »
Continued from Part 1 “Look at people today — how they have become obsessed with their own body. How strange it seems that everyone wants to become body-less without understanding the body, dream of freedom without knowing boundation. It seems that everything is floating in thin air; the journey-nobody wants to embark on that process,
Himmat Shah, Part 2: The Ceramic Yogi Read More »
There is nothing straight about Himmat Shah. From his personal life to his art, which keeps meandering into different contours in ways one can not even imagine. One can experience them though, this process of exploring the unknown within him and around and his capacity to reveal some bits. Crossing the threshold of 90
Himmat Shah, Part 1: The poet of clay and ceramics Read More »