Contemporary artists Desmond lazaro, Gulam Mohammed Sheikh and Manisha Baswani spoke to Kritika Dua about how they gave a creative yet individualistic touch to illustrated borders
While looking at an Indian painting, how often, one might ask oneself, does one notice the border surrounding itIJ And yet in many ways, one would be missing out on something of interest, even significance, if one does not pay attention. “For each scrawl and curl on the margin is engaging in its own right, some adding to, even interpreting the main image, enhancing our understanding of it”, said Prof BN Goswamy. Around 10 contemporary artists are breathing new life into the traditional art of miniature paintings while interpreting the concept of “the margin” through their distinct creations. The artists have focussed on embellishing the edges of the page just as much as the centre in the group exhibition Hashiya: The Margin.
Said Prof Goswamy, “This exhibition breaks completely fresh ground. For not only does one see the borders in pre-modern paintings in their true perspective but also the responses of a number of distinguished contemporary artists to the theme.”
The concept of illustrated borders originally arose from the muraqqa of the 16th century — capacious albums of independent miniature works, which included independent paintings, portraits, genre scenes, allegories, fantasies or interpretations of poetry, massed together to produce something greater than the sum of its parts. The border or hashiya is a frame that conditions us to see something in a particular way. It is a space of adornment, in which the artist embellishes the edges of the page to pay homage to the things that lie at the centre.
Alexander Gorlizki’s It’s All Going On caught our attention. It comprises a giraffe smoking a pipe in one corner, Khwaja Khizr standing at the entrance, a tree with vibrant leaves sprouting from a man’s head and Goddess Kali watching the proceedings take place.
Desmond lazaro was born in the UK and is now settled in Pondicherry. Migration is one of the primary themes of his art and for which he takes inspiration from Buckminster Fuller’s work. lazaro said, “Hashiya explores the relationship between the inside of the image and the outside. Fundamentally, the miniature artists used to play with central image and the outside; there was always ambiguity between the two spaces. The idea of an ambiguity between the two spaces is the idea of this particular work called Dymaxion map created by Buckminster Fuller in 1943. Fuller’s map is based on a mental construction of an alternative comprehension of the world, which abandons the Mercator projection and its use of the equator as the reference line of it. He inverts and questions it by recreating a map on an icosahedron which has 20 equilateral triangles which become a globe; it is more accurate portrayal in terms of proportion. And seems much more connected than the Mercator projection.”
His artwork, The Classroom, is arranged like a class photo with erased feature which points towards a multi-ethnic upbringing. One can make out of their ethnicity through hair colour and their attire. “I remember being a child and looking at images of a class photo on a classroom wall. On the blackboard was also great explorers of Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus, we were told that these were the great sailors and adventurers. It shaped my worldview by displacing the Dymaxion map and I have tried to impose a question with my work through the guise of children.”
His love for miniature painting originated from Rajasthani miniatures, “I was always interested in Rajasthani miniature paintings and honed my skills in this technique by studying for 12 years under the Jaipur master, Bannu Vedpal Sharma, one of the few living experts of the ancient tradition.”
Painter, art historian, and writer Gulam Mohammed Sheikh’s Majnun in the Margin has conscientiously moved Majnun from the mainframe to the margin. He is accompanied by wild animals (deer, tigers, and leopards). On closer look, one can see layla in a litter, riding towards Majnun. “One, I responded to the reference of a painting in the essay of the curator Kavita Singh (forwarded by Anant Gallery) where Majnun is portrayed in the central space while layla in her litter is shown in the margin. Two, I decided to portray Majnun twice in the margin still looking for his layla while the centre he vacated is occupied by skyscrapers and malls.” His endeavour is to explore diverse space constructs used in the traditions of the folio and other paintings in a new context and formation to arrive at a personal space construct. He has attempted for the same in a career spanning five decades.
He started working on this project in January and found the theme quite fascinating and challenging. “It took some time to figure out how to approach such a theme. The option of dividing the spaces of the margin and the centre was open alongside others. Finally, I chose to equate the spaces, invoking the schemes used in traditional folios.”
On her association with this exhibition, Delhi-based artist Manisha Gera Baswani said, “I was invited to be the part of this show and that’s when I started working on this concept. I had been inspired by Indian miniatures for many years. In the recent past, I got inclined to Persian miniatures where a border is an intrinsic part of the visual space. So, I think even the fact that I was selected was because of my concern as an artist has been around the spatial concerns that Persian miniatures have been dealing with. For me, it is an extension of my visual language in the last three years.” She finds the word hashiya poetic and although it means margin and border it doesn’t evoke pain and loss.
She had been working around margins in her work for the longest time. For this exhibition instead of using flat paper, she used thin panels with shikishi board from Japan.
Baswani has a fresh and individualistic perspective on margin. “I related the concept of margin with the life we lead, we live with certain things in our life which are significant to us and become our core and the rest comes under margin. Both of which when joined together make us whole. Margin should not be looked down upon as it enhances the beauty of the painting. If you take ruby and put diamonds around it, it becomes a jewel. While working on this project I was thinking of the roles I play like being a mother, daughter, daughter-in-law and wife. Sometimes become the core and others the margin and the roles get reversed too with age, time, personal and career changes. Not that one is less than the other but all of which makes me complete. Thus the concept of Hashiya echoed with me as a woman artist.”