On an exhibition of paintings by the hearing disabled

Sunday Vijay Times, Bangalore, 9 May 2004

THE artist Satish Gujral is renowned for his painting, sculpture, and architecture; in his book called a Brush with Life, he speaks of being entombed in silence after the accident that took away his hearing ability.  But Satish Gujral’s paintings are perhaps more significant for the crucial experiments that he did with Indian imagery and modernist ideas.

There is such a thing as deaf culture art called De.Via, short for Deaf View/Image Art which was the style of painters like Chuck Biard in America.  It came about at the Deaf Way arts festival at Gallaudet University, America in May, 1989. In their manifesto put up on the website http://www.deafart.org, they say:

‘De.VIA represents Deaf artists and perceptions based on their deaf experiences. It uses formal art elements with the intention of expressing innate cultural or physical Deaf experience.These experiences may include Deaf metaphors, Deaf perspectives, and Deaf insight in relationship with the environment(both the natural world and Deaf cultural environment), spiritual and everyday life.’

This manifesto also recognises that all deaf artists needn’t always speak of their impairedness. They say De.VIA is created when the artist intends to express her/his Deaf experience through visual art.

Chuck Biard, who made this style famous, said, ‘I no longer paint what people would like to see. I paint for myself. It is about my own experience, my love of ASL and pride in our Deaf heritage. I sometimes create works that have no particular relation to the Deaf’.

A search on the Internet reveals that there are many resources in the field of arts which deaf people can access although a lot of them are available abroad. In Bangalore one such initiative was held recently at the Venktappa art gallery.

The gallery was host to an exhibition of paintings by the hearing impaired organised by painter M C Ganesh and A K Umesh, who is the founding secretary of the Organisation for Art and Culture of the Deaf and Dumb,under whose banner this show was held.

The paintings were varied in theme and media, from glass to oil to acrylic and collages. Most prominent in terms of content is the art of Ganesh, which suggests that he is moving beyond themes to explore colour and style. When asked about the influences in his work, Ganesh said that his paintings were  about suffering. Others have worked on themes such as landscapes and still life.

Most of these artists have diplomas or degrees from art schools like Ken and Chitrakala Parishath or have taken exams in drawing. Rajni is an art teacher certified by Fevicryl paints and conducts art and craft classes.Jyothi does graphic design and has trained in computer aided design. R Sreedhara who likes to paint portraits in oil and watercolours is also an accomplished sportsman.Rekha Chitrakumar worked at the Canara bank for 19 years.Archana who is a sculpture student at Chitrakala Parishath has also shown some of her work here. Ganesh Shetty, Rajni, M Jyothi, K Gayathri, C Pramod, Sreedhar, and Rekha Chitrakumar are some of the other upcoming talented artists.

Umesh feels that the disabilities of these people are a serious hindrance to their access to resources. He plans to conduct a painting workshop and exhibition involving more people, and also hopes that the artists. work will find a market in companies and bank calendars etc.  It is time that we make efforts to bring out talent in people with disabilities in India. In an increasingly competitive world, we need to ask ourselves how hostile we are turning towards the physically disabled.

The lure of folk arts

Sunday Vijay Times, Bangalore, 20 February 2005

MAKING craft and other forms of folk art is the second largest occupation of Indians after agriculture. There is some form of folk art in every province of India, from pottery to weaving, textiles, toys or wall painting. Women in villages are chief producers of art like the Madhubani paintings.Embroidery or paintings are all tied up with rituals in life.

Folk art is generally sold in melas and utsavs through co-operatives and the work of non-governmental organisations and government run emporiums and stores. A very huge percentage is exported abroad because Indian handicrafts and textiles are highly valued and priced abroad for their skill, and sheer diversity. With the intervention of important people like Kamaladevi Chattopadhay, Pupul Jayakar, K G Subramanyan and many others in sourcing, documenting and establishing the craft industry, we.ve seen a revival of interest in Indian Craft and folk traditions in the post Independence decades. Historians and critics like Ananda Coomaraswamy, W G Archer, Ajit Ghose have all contributed greatly to the understanding and development of knowledge with regard to Indian crafts.

The art historian Ananda Coomaraswamy typified Indian art into two streams broadly based on style, the Margi, or mainstream, more or less solidified and institutionalised, and Desi which is the lesser tradition or that of the living arts, like arts in utility. Folk art like the Patachitras and Warli paintings would be Desi while Chola bronzes and Mughal miniatures that received court patronage would be Margi. The major difference between folk and contemporary art is in the way that we look at these works. The contemporary artist may deal with his buyers through a gallery and the folk artist usually sells through a dealer. The largest difference is that of the economics and class.Contemporary art is brought and sold amongst the elite and is usually accessed by the upper class, unless the artist is making public art or takes it out of gallery spaces.Folk art, on the other hand exists in a rural milieu and might find elite buyers if there is a link or an intervention that allows this, but otherwise exists in guilds or groups with a mostly assembly line type of production and output. The handicrafts you buy at Safina Plaza, Bangalore would have been made by women working in workshops in remote Rajasthan. ‘We pay them two or three rupees for every piece. They make about a twenty to thirty of these a day,” said a Rajasthan handicraft emporium dealer when asked about the wages they are paid for the making of embroidered cushion covers. The product that reaches us  goes through the hands of two or three dealers before it gets to the shop.

Although they seem impervious categories, there are a lot of contemporary artists who draw from folk art in their paintings.One can easily notice similarities in the sensibility,treatment of subjects and themes.Some paintings of painters like Madhvi Parekh, J Swaminathan,G R Santosh, and Ved Nayar all look like urban or subjective interpretations of folk art.

While with the opening outof the craft markets in terms of exports and the handicrafts boom supported and promoted by the government is that, there is a positive impact in preservation of the forms, but this seems to be  is giving way for very little evolution. Crafts are being seen as just crafts and the craftsman is therefore chained to making only his sellable commodity because that is the only way he has for survival.

In this area, the crucial intervention is that of designers and design institutions because the rural craft needs to adapt stylistically to changing environments. While something exquisite from the past is priceless and needs to be protected, which is the function of  a museum of folk art, the art itself needs to get out of the time warp and evolve to changes in material and use.

Folk art can be seen as an investment in collecting masterpieces but is also a great way to liven up your living space. Madhubani and Warli painting have a great market and make interesting buys. The lure of folk art is that it could bring the colour and vitality of rural folk into an otherwise staid urban space.

Gujarat ke rakshakon,

Chunaav ke dauraan yaad rakhne layak kuch cheezein.

.

[Brought to you by the White Ribbon Abhiyaan.Message also circulated at Blogbharti.]

IDENTIFY YOURSELF GUJARAT!

[ click on the ballot box]

This is a message in public interest circulated by the White Ribbon Campaign for Peace(India).You can also view it here and on Blogbharti.

Please copy and distribute extensively.

Kya aap White ribbon mein shraddha aur imaan rakhte hain?

Do you have faith in the White ribbon?

——————————————————————————————–

Feminist, blogger and activist Anasuya Sengupta, in an essay called ‘Fundamentalisms of the Progressive‘ wrote,

‘One of our campaigns was to wear a white ribbon for peace (the White Ribbon Campaign for Peace, India) – we used it both as a symbol and as a talking point, to begin conversations about violence of all kinds, including what we call ‘communalism’ in India (the rousing of hatred against particular communities). Initially, some of our friends scoffed at us, and wondered what an insignificant white ribbon could do, to change attitudes and animosities.

But the interesting thing was that there were so many people – both young and not so young – who were unable to be political in the same way as they saw ‘activists’; they felt this meant standing at street corners with banners, or going on rallies, or shouting slogans against the government. They found this too ‘political’ (in their understanding of the term), and yet they were deeply disturbed at the kinds of violence being perpetrated in the name of religion.

So for these people, wearing a ribbon was the beginning of a series of conversations they had with others, which began other processes of change, at least in terms of breaking the silence around violence.

And because it was something everyone could do – and have conversations at whatever level of politics and ideology each was comfortable with – it wasn’t intimidating in any way, and yet gave a sense of belonging to a community against violence, and speaking up for peace.’

———————————————————————————-

Do you believe in pluralism and justice?

Are you Secular, liberal, free thinking?

Do you believe that all religion has in its essence ways of leading a soulful, integrated and fulfilled life?

Do you believe that religious extremism has done us no good?

Say No to religious bigotry.

Wear a White Ribbon today.

from the past.

Rethinking previous work is necessary.This is one of the photos that spawned off the Shivajinagar Signs project that Namita Malhotra and I did.

And a similar Sarai project on Street-Signs in the city of Pune called Vaartaphalaks spawned off this train of enquiry.

We addressed questions of divisive material, but these issues come back again and again.
Living in Gujarat and then coming back to where you grew up, a largely undivided atmosphere, (although changing).

Saint God, Communalism, Divisiveness.

None of these terms have stand alone meanings.

What about terms like fundamentalism?

——————————————————————————-

Shivajinagar Signs is now a flickr pool for everyone interested in contributing to it and adding to our archive.Bismillah

Both these projects were facilitated by Sarai Independant Fellowship Grants.

One State Solution.The Blog.

It’s now a blog.

 

It’s now also a blog.

 

During OSSW’07( One State Solution Week, 2007), I wasn’t entirely for having a centralised blog because that would mean isolating audience on one portal, and this event was supposed to have happened on various blogs.

 

But for all our future campaigns in order to gather consciousness, thinking, action and people, we have a blog.

 

And it is

http://onestatesolution.wordpress.com

 

Sexual Harassment affects OUR well being.

Imagine a woman who walks the street everyday, she confronts harassment everyday. She braves it ; she has to get to work. Has a job to do. Falls sick, gets depressed, has a low self esteem…Continues to walk the same path.

Imagine a guy who thinks women are just prey to his motives. Stands by the same street, jeers at the same women. Leers, gawks, squats, spits, says bad things, cusses…Everyday, imagining the women are getting pleasure out of his pleasure. Living in the same dreary universe.

Imagine a woman who works in an office, faces harassment, domestic worker, wife, politician, CEO, engineer, activist, lawyer, actress, waitress, teacher, nurse, school-girl, dancer, singer, news-reader, sex-bomb, media tycoon, modesty blaise character, graphic artist, deep thinker, garment factory worker, embroideress , seamstress, oracle, philosopheress, home-maker, air-craft pilot, historian, architect, camera-woman, photographer, jazz musician, talk-show host, chef, farmer, scientist, astronaut, lecturer, principal, psycho-therapist, educator, doctor, theologist , dentist, surgeon, grass-roots entrepreneur, film-maker, novelist, artist…All facing harassment of various degrees.

Men. CEO’s ,Heads of State, urchins, clowns in the circus, jugglers, fire-men, cable-guys, electricians, businessmen, politicians, theologists, anthropologists, musicians, lighting technicians, real estate agents, marriage brokers, ice-candy sellers, guys, lawyers, judges, architects, clerks, office-boys, chartered accountants, management consultants, fathers, brothers, uncles, family friends, family doctors, family disgraces, holy-men, theorists, artists…All creating and perpetuating and churning out harassment.

Two stories from the Indian Express in the month of September. A 3 year old was raped by her uncle while she was left in his care. A twelve year old boy rapes a four year old.

We’re in this together. You make me sick. You, in the process are carrying out a sickness. It spreads like an epidemic. Soon, it gets into the air and a society is suffering in oblivion. We think we’re better than each other, but we’re all sick. We don’t know it yet.

Some of us survive but we’re heavily darkened. We don’t know how we would have been otherwise, what we could have been.

For now, I’m sickened by all this. You make me sick. I’m tired and coughing. Trying to do my job.

But I will not relent. If I do, then I might turn out like you. You make me sick.

Cough cough spit. It out.

I need more strength than this. Let’s make the sir cleaner, air out these putrid fumes.

Start treating me like a human being.

Spit.

More collective spitting.

We need to get to know each other. But first, ack Thoo.

It doesn’t get dirtier than this. Mucky mucky air. Thooo.I’m so sorry.The language I get is the language I give.For all practical purposes…In a hopelessly uncivilised world.

Here WE are.

you .

me.

us.

unearth.the.angst.be.hopeful.soar.

Us.we.ours.society.world.US.We.home.

NO.

Pledge of Mutual Respect and Co-operation….

I endorse the Sunni Muslim Unity Pledge for mutual understanding, respect and co-operation. But I have a lot of reservations.

Here is the text of the pledge.

Pledge of Mutual Respect and Cooperation Between Sunni Muslim Scholars, Organizations, and Students of Sacred Knowledge

‘Hold fast to the Rope of Allah, all together, and be not divided. (Qur’an, 3:103)

Surely, those who have made divisions in their religion and turned into factions, you have nothing to do with them. Their case rests with Allah; then He will inform them of what they used to do. (Qur’an, 6:159)

In light of the Divine Word, we recognize that the historical nature of Sunni Islam is a broad one that proceeds from a shared respect for the Qur’an and Sunnah, a shared dependence on the interpretations and derivations of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), and a shared respect for the writings of a vast array of scholars who have been identified by their support for and affiliation with the Sunni Muslims and have been accepted as the luminaries of Sunni Islam – as broadly defined.

Likewise, detailed discussions in matters of theology are the specific domain of trained specialists, and proceed on the basis of well-defined principles and methodologies, which are beyond the knowledge of the generality of Muslims.

Our forebears in faith, with all the dedication, brilliance and sincerity clearly manifested in their works, have debated and discussed abstruse and complex issues of creed and practice, and have failed in most instances to convince their opponents of the veracity and accuracy of their positions.

The average Muslim is only responsible for knowing the basics of creed as they relate to a simple belief in Allah, His Angels, Scriptures, the Prophets and Messengers, the Last Day, and the Divine Decree.

Recognizing that the specter of sectarianism threatens to further weaken and debilitate our struggling Muslim community at this critical time in human affairs, and recognizing that Allah, Exalted is He, has given the Muslim community in the West a unique historical opportunity to advance the cause of peace, cooperation, and goodwill amongst the people of the world, we the undersigned respectfully:

- Urge Muslims to categorically cease all attacks on individual Muslims and organizations whose varying positions can be substantiated based on the broad scholarly tradition of the Sunni Muslims. We especially urge the immediate cessation of all implicit or explicit charges of disbelief;

- Urge Muslim scholars and students of sacred knowledge to take the lead in working to end ad hominem attacks on other scholars and students; to cease unproductive, overly polemical writings and oral discourse; and to work to stimulate greater understanding and cooperation between Muslims, at both the level of the leadership and the general community;

-Urge Muslims in the West, especially our youth, to leave off unproductive and divisive discussions of involved theological issues that are the proper domain of trained specialists, and we especially discourage participation in those internet chat rooms, campus discussion groups, and other forums that only serve to create ill-will among many Muslims, while fostering a divisive, sectarian spirit;

-Urge all teachers to instruct their students, especially those attending intensive programs, to respect the diverse nature of our communities and to refrain from aggressive challenges to local scholars, especially those known for their learning and piety;

- Urge our brothers and sisters in faith to concentrate on enriching their lives by deepening their practice of Islam through properly learning the basics of the faith, adopting a consistent regimen of Qur’anic recitation, endeavoring to remember and invoke Allah in the morning and evening, learning the basics of jurisprudence, attempting to engage in voluntary fasting as much as possible, studying the Prophetic biography on a consistent basis, studying the etiquettes that guide our interactions with our fellow Muslims, and the performance of other beneficial religious acts, to the extent practical for their circumstances;

- Finally, we urge the Believers to attempt to undertake individual and collective actions that will help to counter the growing campaign of anti-Islamic misinformation and propaganda that attempts to portray our religion as a violence-prone relic of the past unsuitable for modern society, and by so doing justify indiscriminate wars against Muslim peoples, occupation of Muslim lands, and usurpation of their resources.

Saying this, we do not deny the reality of legitimate differences and approaches, nor the passionate advocacy of specific positions based on those differences. Such issues should be rightfully discussed observing established rules of debate. However, we urge the above measures to help prevent those differences from destroying the historical unity and integrity of the Muslim community, and creating irreparable divisions between our hearts. Further, we do not deny the urgency, especially in light of the situation in Iraq, of efforts to foster greater cooperation between diverse Muslim communities. Hence, this document should not be seen as negating any statements, or declarations designed to foster greater peace and harmony between diverse Muslim communities. However, we feel, as Sunni Muslims, a pressing need to first set our own affairs in order.

In conclusion, having called our brothers and sisters to act on these points, we, the undersigned, pledge to be the first to actively implement them in response to the Divine Word:

Do you enjoin righteousness on the people and refuse to follow it yourselves and all along you are reciting the scripture!? Will you not reflect? (Qur’an (2:44)

We ask Allah for the ability to do that which He loves. And Allah alone is the Grantor of Success.

Aameen.’

The pledge itself was developed in the West, but I cannot say enough about the need for mutual understanding between not just Muslims but all religious scholars in India where I see innumerable animosities based on matters of religious understanding , and among the Muslims in terms of Fiqh(Jurisprudence), on the application of Sufi thought and doctrine, and on matters of ijtihad(reasoning on matters of theology).

I cannot stress enough the need for opening out the scripture and theological texts to the larger public domain for them to available and accessible to one and all. When great scholars like Al-Ghazzali worked they had in mind the benefit of all mankind. My experience and practice and knowledge , for now remains painfully and ignorantly rooted only in Islam, so I speak from here in the hope and earnest prayer that God increases me in his knowledge. For He. surely, is the supreme guide and holder of wisdom.

I would like to go further and say that matters of sacred knowledge (God and his messengers know best) need to be debated in the open, so that our inner worlds are not that far from the outer. And this should not just be for the Muslim ummah but for the whole of God’s creation.

Traditional knowledges are inter-connected; medicine or anatomy was not separate from matters of the spirit. Today these connections need to be re-established or we will see a devastating impact on the academies wherein knowledge will only serve to disassociate us from our spiritual lives. This is already happening with the technologising of our lives and life-styles, and is a trend that needs to be corrected in the sciences and within philosophical spheres of learning.

This is the reason why I feel that matters of all religious learning need to be debated openly among diverse scholars and in conjunction with historians, scientists and theorists and political thinkers. I’m sure that in that process we will be not just doing justice to but also bearing and carrying forward the immense and invigorating repositories of knowledge that theological learning, the sciences of the spirit and ways of life such as the religious method have to offer.

There are however some problems I have with the pledge itself. I do not endorse the divide between scholar and lay-man and will never endorse the divide between a religious scholar and a practitioner of religion (May God be the witness to my words and deeds).While I embrace this call whole-heartedly because I see in it a spirit for togetherness and bridging long standing gaps between Islamic sects and the potential for some real debates on matters of Islamic history and the ahadeeth, I feel that the internet is in fact a great place to start talking about these matters. What better democratic, non-patriarchal and classless platform than this to advance thought,  and to communicate with diverse view-points? While there is a risk of profanity and distortion there is also the possibility of synergizing.

I am a believer in real experience as the best teacher in all values, but as a Muslim woman from a country where Muslims are an often persecuted minority, I cannot say how much being on the internet has strengthened my sense of being a part of a global shared pool of thinking, cultural values and practices. It is pitiable that I do not have the same sort of atmosphere in a physical sense but we all have our lives to lead. Our cultural mileu may be different but the best thing about this medium is that it allows people to talk to each other. And Alhamdulillah(Praise be to God), that may yet be the best tool we have.

In conversation with my people back home there always is the rift which the staunchest traditionalists call ‘maghribi taleem ka assar’ or the influence of Western learning, which to them reflects a lack in certainty. Urdu learning on the other hand is to them perfectly capable of granting an individual with the knowledge of certainty and moral rectitude that a Muslim needs. These differences between theology and modern life are too wide right now and it is about time that they be bridged.

As I write this I write with a great satisfaction that I have been given the means to articulate anger and angst that has been simmering in me for a long time . Jazak Allah! It is the holy month of Ramzaan and may my words bespeak the pain of a troubled heart and mind. But I’m immensely happy that I have had the opportunity to articulate these feelings and that this blessed pledge has brought them forth.

In the past week we have all been witness to the most stirring events of a generation. We have seen monks taking to the streets in order to correct a political situation. I have no words to express my exhuberance at these replenisingly, rescusiatingly wonderful sights. We all must in our own capacity stand with the brave people of Burma in their struggle for self-rule, and as we speak for unity in theological thinking, discourse and action we do not stand in isolation from the larger worlds of religions, each with their separate world -view. May God show us all the way.Aameen.

In Solidarity,

Raheema.

Original PDF version here.This pledge comes together from a group of scholars and I’m sadly not aware of any of them yet.Here is the Muslim Matters.org link.

 

Where is the other in you?

What you said about the One State Solution Week, 2007.

 

Two responses of ‘mainstream’ women.

‘I think the question – and therefore a possible ‘answer’ – can be phrased differently. What needs to help the violence in the sub-continent abate? What do we need to do for peace?

 

And one possible solution to that is not, I personally feel, a campaign against nations and nationalities because that can be historically difficult to comprehend and to change; it is to turn the issue of borders upside down, and to recognise that so much of nationhood is ‘imagined communities’ – different depending on who imagines, and what they imagine… In which case, we can be one state of mind… one state of imagined peace, of harmony, of non-violence. Some of us across the artificial, geographical borders of South Asia already do – to some extent – share this state of being. We share cultural habits of hospitality, social habits like films (!) and best of all, political beliefs in peace.

 

However, for the future, this imagined community needs to be louder, more visible, more powerful. It needs to express this vision of a shared sub-continent of peace. And pragmatically, it needs to push the fact that cooperation, rather than conflict, is better for trade, for finance, for security and ultimately, for the well-being of our people.’

Anasuya Sengupta, ‘One State of Mind‘.

‘One state solution is a very attractive idea but i don’t think it is feasible. I know I speak very bluntly and seculars don’t like my views. But I speak what I really feel; I don’t care for secular image/credentials.

 

Why this idea is not possible because
(1) Muslims cannot live peacefully with other communities.

 

(2)Hindus in pre-partition society were different, they were naive, they were ready to go to any extent to appease their Muslim ‘brothers’. It was easy for mahatmas to suppress feelings of those wounded refugees who had to leave their everything in Pakistan.
Now I don’t think Hindus can be fooled so easily.

 

(3)seculars (of course Hindus) will never try to understand the real nature of the problem so naturally whenever any communal problem arises they try to equate RSS with Muslim fanatics/terrorists, secondly they will always remember ‘Gujarat’ but will never dare to mention ‘Kashmir’. (See your mail in which you have done the same thing).
As long as these seculars exist in the society communal tension will always prevail.

 

If Muslims follow leaders like dr. APJ Abdul Kalam or Jinnah of 1920 then only Hindus should support One State Solution.’

 

Vedavati Jogi, in response to an initiatory mail.

 

 

 

*Please note: the graph is an artistic statement, and was not plotted with demographical data.Any dispute/protest is welcome.And the two responses are set-up by way of contrast, not comparision.