Calligraphy Exhibition in India
Simply stated, calligraphy means beautiful writing. But an exhibition that has just opened in the city of New Delhi explores this art form in all its dimensions, and takes it far beyond common perception. Akshara, the exhibition at the Indian Habitat Centre, will continue till September 21st and includes over 140 diverse exhibits ranging from calligraphy engraved on stones to that weaved in fabric.
The project, which involves 58 artists from 16 states and highlights 21 calligraphy genres, took three years to organize. By bringing together calligraphy and craftsmanship, it aims at giving literacy a new meaning. «It's liberating to be able to read and write, and many rural artisans feel inadequate without the knowledge of English or PC skills,» says Jaya Jaitly, president of Dastkari Haat Samiti, India’s nationwide craftsmen association, who organized the exhibition.
For people to understand the concept behind calligraphy and its application, they conducted a six day workshop last year, where famous graphic designers and craft designers helped add a modern touch to traditional regional scripts. The results are on display now. As you step into the Visual Arts Gallery, Indian Habitat Centre, there is an array of calligraphic art work ― Jharna Patachitra paintings and terracotta lamps from West Bengal, papier mache wall clocks from Jammu and Kashmir, inscribed stoneware from Tamil Nadu, leather goods from Andhra Pradesh, Rabindranath Tagore's poems weaved on cloth, etc.
Some artists have created special items for retail at the exhibition, so visitors can take a bit of their experience back home. There are shawls, jewelry, cushion covers, miniature kavad art pieces, dupattas (duppata is a long headscarf that’s part of the traditional clothing in several Asian cultures), clipboards, files, and notebooks for sale at the Experimental Art Gallery.
«I made dupattas with zari motifs of Kabir's dohas,» says Maqbool Hasan, an artist from Varanasi, whose family has been practicing the art for around 200 years. Artist Abdulrazak Mohmed Khatri from Gujarat has put up calligraphy printed with natural colours on cotton sheets. Vijendra Bharti from Jaipur has carved miniature paintings using stone and gold foil, as well as old post cards. For the exhibition, however, he created an ambitious wooden folding screen with Kabir's couplets, «I worked 10 hours a day for a month and a half,» he says.
The interactive aspect of the exhibition is a film combining calligraphy and choreography. They have also released a book, written by Jaya Jaitly and Subrata Bhowmick, which not only catalogues the exhibition, but also shows outdoor calligraphy ― painted on walls as advertisements or on film posters.
The India Habitat CentreSource: