Elizabeth II was the official photograph taken by the Royal photographer Peter Grugeon (1918-1980), released for the Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977…reports Asian Lite News
Two Andy Warhol screen prints of Queen Elizabeth II in ‘The Art of Literature: Auction Highlights Exhibition’, are on display in London till June 14 at Christie’s.
Created in 1985, Warhol’s Reigning Queens series brought together four ruling monarchs, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Margarethe II of Denmark, Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. The series was issued in two editions, a standard edition of forty, and a Royal Edition of thirty with diamond dust. (Illustrated on page 1 right, blue screen print), Queen Elizabeth II, from: Reigning Queens (Royal Edition), 1985, (estimate 200,000-300,000) and (illustrated on page 1 left, red screen print), Queen Elizabeth II, from: Reigning Queens (Royal Edition), 1985, (estimate 250,000-350,000) both from the ‘diamond dust’ Royal Edition.
The source image for Warhol’s celebrated portrait of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II was the official photograph taken by the Royal photographer Peter Grugeon (1918-1980), released for the Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977.
The two works are on display in conjunction with Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, which commemorate her coronation in June 1953. After 70 years of service, Her Majesty The Queen will become the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, as well as the world’s third longest reigning monarch and the longest-reigning female monarch in history.
Following the recent record-breaking sale on 9 May 2022 at Christie’s New York, where the Shot Sage Blue Marilyn by Andy Warhol sold for $195 million from The Collection of Thomas and Doris Ammann Evening Sale, establishing it as the most expensive 20th-century artwork to sell at auction, Andy Warhol is very much in the news.
The entire auction catalogue is available on www.astaguru.com, and the auction will be held on the website on June 23rd and 24th, 2022…reports Asian Lite News
The latest edition of AstaGuru’s Modern Indian Art ‘Collectors Choice’ online auction, will take place on June 23-24, 2022, providing collectors with an exceptional opportunity to acquire masterpieces and rare compositions. While works by members of the Progressive Artists’ Group remain highly valued, the auction has a diversified art collection with significant works by other celebrated names in Modern Indian Art.
The collection presents work from different periods of Modern Indian Art and includes exceptional creations by revered names such as Nicholas Roerich, Rabindranath Tagore, Amrita Sher- Gil, M V Dhurandhar, Nandalal Bose, Jamini Roy, M.F. Husain, S.H. Raza, F.N. Souza, Tyeb Mehta, Akbar Padamsee, Krishen Khanna, Arpita Singh, Sakti Burman, K.K. Hebbar, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Ganesh Pyne, and Rameshwar Broota amongst other eminent artists.
Lot 41, a work by artist Tyeb Mehta, leads the stellar lineup. The work was completed around 1962, during a period when he was inspired by the works of British figurative painter Francis Bacon. Tyeb Mehta, who was living in London at the time, was also influenced by philosophical reflections on human frailty. The canvas depicts a lonely, isolated figure painted with a heavy impasto technique and a limited colour palette. It will be priced between INR 3,00,00,000 and 4,00,00,000.
Sunny Chandiramani, Vice President- Client Relations, AstaGuru Auction House, said, “Our Collectors Choice’ edition has emerged to be one of the most anticipated auctions by the collectors. It has consistently garnered tremendous response due to the vastness and diversity of the collection offered. The No Reserve’ format makes it more accessible for a larger collector base to participate in the auction since bidding starts at INR 20,000. These works have been part of noteworthy collections and also stand as significant milestones in the artists’ careers. Several of these rare gems are appearing in an auction for the first time. The auction also features sculptures by respected artists including Prodosh Das Gupta, Sankho Chaudhuri, Himmat Shah, Krishen Khanna, Ram Kumar, K Laxma Goud, P V Janakiram, and S Nandagopal.”
Lot 164 is a work by artist Arpita Singh titled ‘Counting Flowers: My Benares Saree.’ It was completed in 1997 and is an archetypal example of the artist’s visual idiom, colour composition, and recurring motifs seen in her works. It will be priced between INR 80,00,000 and INR 1,000,000.
Lot no. 5 is a magnificent work by one of India’s ‘Navratna’ artists, Nicholas Roerich, which is being auctioned for the first time. Roerich, known as the ‘Master of Mountains,’ was a symbolic painter whose sapphire hues and hidden clouds of white will forever be etched as magnificent representations of the Himalayan range. This work, completed around 1940, will be offered for INR 30,00,000 -40,00,000.
The entire auction catalogue is available on www.astaguru.com, and the auction will be held on the website on June 23rd and 24th, 2022.
Sarabhai, who shot to international fame when she played the character of ‘Draupadi’ in Peter Brook’s nine-hour theatre production ‘Mahabharata’, admits that it changed the very course of her life and she was no longer the same person after that…writes Sukant Deepak
“Is it not tragic that it is mostly a series about gory crimes and criminals that gets all the attention on OTT platforms? However, I have complete faith that content revolving around the ‘good’ will have a sizable audience,” Dancer and actor Mallika Sarabhai, Artistic Director of ‘Darpana’, who is currently producing multiple pilots and will soon approach different digital platforms, tells IANS.
To be produced under the banner of Darpana, the content aims to arrest the narrative that only violence and crime get people to binge watch.
“It is such a cliche that audiences do not want to see stories revolving around the positive. We are hoping we crack that and show an alternative — one can always choose compassion. But if you do not give viewers that option, then how are they supposed to choose it? Why do the characters have to be horrible to do something cool,” asks this Padma Bhushan awardee.
Not only an actor and dancer, Sarabhai, known for social activism and raising her voice for democracy and standing by different peoples’ movements, stresses she sees little sense in slotting art and social activism for they intersect for her at all levels.
“My work and my life are the same. There is never a moment when I am doing something and my mind is not raving about what I can create from that moment,” she tells.
Sarabhai, who shot to international fame when she played the character of ‘Draupadi’ in Peter Brook’s nine-hour theatre production ‘Mahabharata’, admits that it changed the very course of her life and she was no longer the same person after that.
“It made me realise I have the power to make a difference. I got the confidence to become my
own modelling clay. It completely altered my trajectory and pushed me into becoming my own defendant. A deep journey to find my limits started. It’s not what Peter did to me. It’s what happened to Mallika,” recalls the artist, who was recently in Chandigarh on the invitation of Nagina Bains for the IWN (Indian Women Network) Chandigarh Tricity Chapter Annual Session supported by Testler.
While for most artists, the pandemic-induced lockdown ensured a lull in activities, but not Sarabhai.
“My artistic director, I, seven dogs and a peacock were on the campus throughout. The highway next to us was completely silent. We would fix the lights, had our own studio and spaces. So if you go to the YouTube channel of Darpana, you will see a lot of our new work from 2021. We also went online the day the lockdown started. Our students did not really miss a single day of work/study. We generated a lot of material. Also, realising how awful other dancers must be feeling, we did something called ‘Dance Unlocked’, where we got dancers from all over the country and trained them on how to hold the camera etc. through WhatsApp.”
On the condition of artists during the lockdown, she laments that India has never had a decent budget for the arts in the past 30 years.
“Whatever little is there, goes to the favourites. One wonders what the multiple akademis are doing? The situation is deplorable. Think of what happened to the weavers who used to make the sarees for costumes, the leather cleaners for the tablas. Or the metal worker who makes the
ghungroos. When we talk about what Covid did to art, you are only seeing us. Not the hundreds of people behind us.”
Parties woo the voters with solemn oaths to provide corruption-free and efficient governance; they promise to rescue agriculture and revive the villages; they commit to attracting industry and creating jobs…writes Inderjit Singh Jaijee and Dona Suri
The average man, particularly the average young man, or woman, may have trouble articulating their situation, but they know what they are experiencing: stagnant economy, deep trouble in agriculture, symptomised by an appalling number of rural suicides every year, collapse of industry, no jobs and no hope of jobs, a state government that in fact has no money and falls deeper into debt with every passing year.
[A] report by Common Cause points towards an ingrained distrust of the police and by extension, the government. Some people may be able to identify a year or a period when this distrust took root; for others, it is just a ‘given’ that they grew up with.
Militancy itself was a symptom of a long-standing sense of alienation. The state’s response drove that alienation deeper. Ruthless measures employed to crush it perverted the administrative culture, particularly police culture. The courts were paralysed for 20 years.
Industry was always denied to Punjab on the pretext that the state was vulnerable to attack, and, in recent years, tax-holiday packages granted to neighbouring states have drained away industry and jobs. Traditionally, Punjab has been an agricultural state; but, if any hope remained in agriculture, then farmers and farm labourers would not be committing suicide.
Successive state governments have come in on big talk but, either because of indifference or inability, all the indicators show the state on a downward path. Parties woo the voters with solemn oaths to provide corruption-free and efficient governance; they promise to rescue agriculture and revive the villages; they commit to attracting industry and creating jobs.
If the claims are to be believed, would lakhs of young people and their parents make such a heroic effort to get out of Punjab, get out of India? It must also be pointed out that the politicians of Punjab send their own children abroad, which strongly suggests that they do not believe what they say either.
‘It Can’t be Worse There’
The motivations of those desperate to leave Punjab are largely economic, but not only economic. Another thing that drives them to risk everything to get out of Punjab is the belief that there is absolutely nothing that they can do to change a corrupt administration, a rapacious police force, and a selfish, static, unresponsive political culture.
A story in ‘The Indian Express’ of March 3, 2018, quotes a youngster from a village in Gurdaspur district:
He has studied up to Class 10 and wants to “get out of here”. He says, “I don’t believe Greece can be worse than Punjab. The agent has told me that there is always work for those who are willing to work hard. I am. At least I can go out and see the world.”
Within a decade or two, most of the generation that witnessed events of the 1980s and 1990s will be gone.
Some of that generation were sufficiently alienated from the government to get into a war with it. They were not alienated from home and faith, so fighting still seemed worthwhile. Very few of their children and grandchildren have much awareness of, or interest in, the traumas suffered by the preceding generation. They see so little hope in their homeland that fighting does not seem worthwhile; they simply leave.
If militancy was a symptom of alienation, then the present generation is even more alienated than their elders were. Legacies do not always have to be recognised or articulated to endure.
(Excerpted with permission from SAGE Publications India from the book The Legacy of Militancy in Punjab: Long Road to ‘Normalcy’ by Inderjit Singh Jaijee and Dona Suri)
The million-copy bestselling phenomenon, Fredrik Backman’s heart-warming debut is a funny, moving, uplifting tale of love and community that will leave you with a spring in your step…writes N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe
From poetry to humour, there’s plenty to read while lounging at home during these sweltering days. We curate some of the best new titles that match the mood of the season, and make you a little more knowledgeable, one page at a time.
Poetry Novel: The Penguin Book of Indian Poets by Jeet Thayil
A performance poet and songwriter, Jeet Thayil has compiled this definitive anthology of Indian poetry in English that has been two decades in the making.
It spans seventy-five years of Indian poetry in English, bridging continents and generations, and seeks to expand the definition of “Indianness”. The collection also introduces an astonishing range of contemporary poets who live and work in various parts of the world and in India. Included are lost, uncollected, or out of print poems by major poets. Mythology Fiction Novel: The Hidden Hindu by Akshat Gupta
Prithvi, 21, is searching for a mysterious middle-aged Aghori (Shiva devotee), Om Shastri, who was traced more than 200 years ago before he was captured and transported to a high-tech facility on an isolated Indian island. When the aghori was drugged and hypnotised for interrogation by a team of specialists, he claimed to have witnessed all four yugas (the epochs in Hinduism) and even participated in both Ramayana and Mahabharata. Om’s revelations of his incredible past that defied the nature of mortality left everyone baffled.
So who is Om Shastri? Why was he captured? Board the boat of Om Shastri’s secrets to Prithvi’s pursuit and adventures of other enigmatic immortals of Hindu mythology in this exciting and revealing journey.
Self-Analysis Novel: Reverberation of a Timepiece by Sudhir Kove
Renowned logo guru, graphologist, and wristwatch analyst Sudhir Kove’s second book, ‘Reverberation of a Timepiece: How Watches Impact our Life’, delves into how a simple time measurement device can impact your subconscious mind. Kove believes that everything from the size, shape and elements of the dial and strap, to the hand you wear it on and even the colour of the watch you pick, can not just reveal hidden aspects of your personality, but in turn affect your thoughts, behaviour, confidence, decision-making and even relationships with those around you.
Romantic Novel: Wish I Could Tell You by Durjoy Dutta
Can you find yourself after you have lost that special someone? A disillusioned and heartbroken Anusha finds herself in the small world of WeDonate.com. Struggling to cope with her feelings and the job of raising money for charity, she reluctantly searches for a worthwhile cause to support. For Ananth, who has been on the opposite side, no life is less worthy, no cause too small to support. Behind them are teams for whom going to extraordinary lengths to save lives is more than a full-time occupation. In front of them is the virtual world of social media-watching, interacting, judging, making choices, and sometimes, saving lives. Non- Fiction Novel: What Millennials Want by Vivan Marwaha
The important question is: What do Indian millennials want? What are their economic aspirations and their social views? Most importantly, what makes them tick? Marwaha documents the aspirations and anxieties of these young people scattered across more than 30,000 kilometers in 13 Indian states. Combining an expansive dataset along with personal anecdotes, he narrates an intimate biography of India’s millennials, investigating their attitudes towards sex, marriage, employment, religion, and politics. Thriller Novel: One Arranged Murder by Chetan Bhagat
Saurabh and Prerna will be getting married soon. It is an arranged marriage. However, there is more cheesy romance between them than any love-marriage couple. On Karva Chauth, she fasted for him. She didn’t eat all day. In the evening, she called him and waited on the terrace for the moon and for Saurabh to break her fast. Excited, Saurabh ran up the steps of her three-storey house. But when he reached
One Arranged Murder is a story about love, friendship, family and crime.
Humorous Novel: A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman
The million-copy bestselling phenomenon, Fredrik Backman’s heart-warming debut is a funny, moving, uplifting tale of love and community that will leave you with a spring in your step. At first sight, Ove is almost certainly the grumpiest man you will ever meet. He will persist in making his daily inspection rounds of the local streets. But isn’t it rare, these days, to find such old-fashioned clarity of belief and deed? Such unswerving conviction about what the world should be, and a lifelong dedication to making it just so? In the end, you will see, there is something about Ove that is quite irresistible.
To her family’s consternation, she insists on travelling to Pakistan, simultaneously confronting the unresolved trauma of her teenage experiences of partition, and re-evaluating what it means to be a mother, a daughter, a woman, and a feminist…reports Asian Lite News
Not only has Delhi-based author Geetanjali Shree’s ‘Ret Samadhi’, translated into English by American writer-translator Daisy Rockwell into ‘Tomb of Sand’ achieved a new milestone by being the first Hindi literary work to win the prestigious International Booker Prize, it has also asserted no matter the language, but human emotions are also connected by common emotions and metaphors.
Speaking to IANS when the book was shortlisted for the coveted prize, she had stressed, “Of course, this is something I have always known.
Otherwise all these centuries, we would not be loving and relating to art and literature from vastly different countries of the world. Human (and other) life is about the same emotions and experiences, albeit couched in different ‘cultural’ details. It is when the former touches our soul that the latter ceases to be alien and only adds more dimensions to our experience.”
Reacting to the Booker, she said: “This is a bolt from the blue, but what a nice one. I never dreamt of the Booker, I never thought I could. What a huge recognition, I’m amazed, delighted, honoured and humbled,” says the author, who was in disbelief during her acceptance speech, “There is a melancholy satisfaction in the award going to it. ‘Ret
Samadhi/Tomb of Sand’ is an elegy for the world we inhabit, a laughing elegy that retains hope in the face of impending doom. The Booker will surely take it to many more people than it would have reached otherwise, that should do the book no harm.”
‘Ret Samadhi’ centres around a north Indian 80-year-old woman who slips into a deep depression after the death of her husband and then resurfaces to gain a new lease on life. Her determination to fly in the face of convention including striking up a friendship with a transgender person confuses her bohemian daughter, who is used to thinking of herself as the more ‘modern’ of the two.
To her family’s consternation, she insists on travelling to Pakistan, simultaneously confronting the unresolved trauma of her teenage experiences of partition, and re-evaluating what it means to be a mother, a daughter, a woman, and a feminist.
Talking about how the award-winning book was conceived, she remembers that it was the image of an old woman lying with her back turned to everyone in a joint family and apparently with no interest in living any longer that set her off. “My curiosity grew as to is she turning
her back on the world and life or preparing to get up into a rejuvenated, reinvented new life! From there the novel took off. It was a long journey full of fun, pain, joy, anxieties, the works,” she said.
But winning a major prize is not something she will let effect her writing. The author is clear that writing must never be extraneously motivated or influenced. “I write to express as best as I can, as creatively and sensitively as I can, and that is the only expectation
I am propelled by. I let no one tell me what, when, how I must write.”
The author whose works have been widely translated into several languages including French, German, Korean and Serbian, feels that translation is dialogue and communication. It is never a fixed, frozen and complete exchange. “It is ongoing, live and enriching some things are explained better, some remain confounding, just as in any communication. Some things may also get lost, but some things also get added. Just as when two people talk, they enrich each other and enlarge each other’s way of seeing, being, and experiencing, so is also the communication underway in translation.
The gains of it are immense. One cannot fear it for the risks that may be in there too. Communication is worth it, risky or not! Dialogue, which is what translation is, is the best thing in human life and the way forward.”
Some find their pleasure in paintings while some find their attraction in digital art. There is a lot out there and enabled by digital resources one can find their interest…reports N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe
Collecting artwork has evolved in all respects – it has changed in format, resources, means, accessibility and perspective, but its essence survives through the test of time. Art is now being influenced by the digital era. Art collection earlier was considered a virtue of mature age but recently more and more millennials are taking up art collection very seriously.
Collecting art is as much a passion as a study, it is seen as an investment but it is a more personally rewarding pursuit. The journey from an art enthusiast and appreciator to a collector requires study, patience and perseverance. Especially in this demographic defying dynamic digital era, one needs to know what exactly one wants from the rich and diverse world of art.
To become an art collector, one needs to deep dive into the subject. The study, analyse, understand and decode the world of art. The various platforms, genres, schools of thought, artists, categories, etc and then identify one’s core interest area in this wide spectrum. There are a few golden guiding rules one must follow in order to have a rewarding and gratifying art collection journey, says Kr. Roop Partap Choudhary, internationally acclaimed art collector and Executive Director, Noor Mahal and Jewel Group of Hotels.
Research and explore
The more one knows about the fascinating depths of art and the artist the more satisfying it will make the journey to acquiring the artwork. Investing time in researching and exploring opens doors to newer possibilities and newer avenues. It updates one with knowledge of the latest means and routes to exciting riches. The Digital era has made gathering information relatively easy but it is also important to know how to get the most trustworthy information and not get misguided. It is easy to explore and connect digitally and also make purchases online by bypassing geographical boundaries.
Find your fondness
Art is a wide canvas and one needs to know what exactly one wants to pursue. What inspires and what does one aspire for. Some choose heritage-inspired rare art, while some are motivated by contemporary art. Some find their pleasure in paintings while some find their attraction in digital art. There is a lot out there and enabled by digital resources one can find their interest.
Design a strategy
Building an art collection is not about spontaneity, it requires planning and strategizing. Once you know what you desire from your art collection it is important to make sure you steer in the right direction. A strategy helps you plan ahead, ensures progress and helps you stay on the path of building gradually.
Networking is an art
The art world is fascinatingly complicated, finding the right things for your collection can prove to be almost like a treasure hunt. It is both helpful and effective to connect with the right people who can assist you in your journey of building a beautiful and meaningful collection. Especially like-minded people who know the world of art.
Assurance of authenticity
With the boom in the digital world and the increasing role of digitization in the world of art acquisition, there is an increasing threat of frauds trying to dupe young art collectors. Beware of cheaters and make sure that you deal with only authorized and authentic people. One can never be too careful in this respect.
There is no shortcut to connoisseur ship and it does take time, energy and money.
The limited-edition sink ‘Quila’ is adorned with an intricate painting that Jai Prakash has created exclusively for Kohler. Here, art blends seamlessly with utility, rendering a functional object that effortlessly doubles up as a work of art…reports Asian Lite News
The diverse arts and crafts, traditions, and folklore of India reflect the country’s rich cultural heritage. They come from all over the country and use a variety of methods and techniques, as well as artisans’ skills and expertise, to create one-of-a-kind pieces. Because they are handcrafted, they have a rather priceless appeal and a one-of-a-kind quality. And today, these ancient arts and crafts are finding new expression in modern contexts, articulated in ways that preserve their authenticity while allowing them to evolve. In doing so, the artists and craftspeople who are essential in keeping these traditional art forms alive and relevant for today are also brought to the forefront.
One such artist is Jai Prakash Lakhiwal, an acclaimed miniaturist who has played a significant role in preserving and propagating the rich heritage of miniature art. He was inspired by his father who had taken up painting as a hobby while working full-time. Having picked up a brush at the age of six, Jai Prakash started painting very young and gradually cultivated his skill, learning the intricacies from Ustad Feroz whose forefathers were painters in the Mughal court. He is the recipient of several awards, including the Padma Shri (2016).
His skillful creations grace the walls of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Prime Mister’s Office, Hyderabad House, Supreme Court, and the Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum, to name a few, with one of his most notable works being the 20,000 sq.ft painting in the Anandpur Sahib Museum of Sikh History. Jai Prakash also hand paints for a high-end Japanese Kimono brand. And most recently, the self-taught artist collaborated with Kohler for the India Artist Edition, an endeavour which was born from a vision to create a product that celebrates Indian cultural heritage.
The limited-edition sink ‘Quila’ is adorned with an intricate painting that Jai Prakash has created exclusively for Kohler. Here, art blends seamlessly with utility, rendering a functional object that effortlessly doubles up as a work of art.
“India probably has the widest tradition of art and craft, so we thought it was time to really now invest behind paying homage to Indian traditions. The Quila is a beautiful product, one-of-a-kind, and certainly very different from what people expect to see in a bathroom,” says Salil Sadanandan, President, Kohler, South Asia, Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Since the start, Kohler delved into an in-depth process, which included conducting a 10-day workshop with leading folk artists of India. A detailed brief was given to each artist, culminating in this collaboration with the Padma Shri artist and the choice to go with the traditional art form of miniature paintings. The team initially drew upon India’s diverse heritage of painting, textile, architecture, and embroidery styles to develop the concept, which was eventually realised by Jai Prakash through his evocative illustration of the glorious past of the Rajputs. He himself drew inspiration from the miniature styles of Kota (Rajasthan) and Kangra (Pahari) regions and his painting portrays the magnificent Rajput forts through playful activities of the royalty, and visible across the tamed and untamed landscapes are birds and animals enjoying the spring season. The visual narrative that unfolds captivates the viewer, compelling them to explore the various details depicted by the artist, which are made even more striking by the expressive forms and vibrant colours.
The artwork, which is essentially created on a two-dimensional medium, had to be carefully translated onto a three-dimensional object and this was achieved through an elaborate process, to create a bespoke functional element for your bath space.
“We scanned these paintings and converted them into lithographs which were transferred on to the ceramic surface. It is all about craftsmanship and precision, without any automation” says Anand Asinkar, Lead Industrial designer, Kohler India Studio.
A piece of art, ‘Quila’ will single-handedly elevate the aesthetic quotient of the bath space it is integrated in, narrating stories of the glorious Rajput past through evocative visuals and bringing forth the charm of Rajasthan. Collaborations like these are imperative today as they do not just put Indian art on the global map but also provide artisans with a platform to showcase their talent. And it is through these creative ventures that the time-honoured arts, crafts and traditional techniques of the country gain prominence and relevance in today’s times, preventing them from fading into oblivion.
Salil Sadanandan, President, Kohler Brand South Asia, Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa speaks about the collaboration and its modern interpretation.
Tell us about the collaboration and what it aims to achieve?
Sadanandan: The collaboration aims to bring together India’s diverse arts and crafts, traditions, and folklore, which speak of the country’s rich cultural heritage. Today, these age-old arts and crafts are finding expression in contemporary contexts, articulated in ways that preserve their authenticity while enabling them to evolve. We collaborated with Padma Shri Jai Prakash Lakhiwal, the man who is working to keep these traditional art forms alive and relevant for modern times, to bring the artist and crafts to the forefront. The Quila is a beautiful product, one-of-a-kind and certainly very different from what people expect to see in a bathroom. The artwork, which is essentially created in a two-dimensional medium, was carefully translated into a three-dimensional object, to create a bespoke functional element for the bath space.
Your target audience is HNIs above 35 and especially women. Why is this?
Sadanandan: We have always believed that it’s the women of the house who turn the place into a home. It is because of their knack for selecting products which are design-led and, at the same time, are of good quality that can beautify the place. This belief has led us to make women who are 35+ our target audience.
Tell us about the artwork?
Sadanandan: The artwork depicts the magnificent Rajput forts through the playful activities of the royalty. It showcases a panorama of tamed and untamed landscapes, which brings out the birds and animals enjoying the glorious spring season. The visual narrative unfolds the artwork and captivates the viewer, compelling them to explore the various details depicted by the artist, which are made even more striking by the expressive forms and vibrant colours.
Fittings and fixtures make or break a room, because of the pandemic people are focusing on their living spaces and willing to spend on previously ignored areas like bathrooms fixtures etc. Do u agree?
Sadanandan: A bathroom reflects one’s personality. And with the onset of the pandemic, homes have become the sanctuary for almost everyone. Because of this, the concept of indoor-outdoor living has been translated into the bath space as well, which has opened new opportunities for us. This situation has created an area of luxury combined with a heightened sense of hygiene and safety, giving us the space to create more different products.
The trio is put in a quandary. Will they fight their own creation? Is their intractable minds an indication that atheism is a religion in itself? Belief and disbelief, it is possible, are two sides of the same coin…reports Asian Lite News
Don’t let the weather dampen your spirits and weigh you down, pick up one of these books and dive head first into a great read. Here’s our list for the month.
The Wait And Other Stories (From the 2022 Jnanpith Award winner): Damodar Mauzo
Publisher: Penguin India
A cab driver, who assumes the identity of whoever his clients want him to be, finds himself in a tricky situation with a passenger. A late-night call leads a doctor down a path of lust and desire, but with unexpected results. A writer acquaints himself with a thief who had broken into his house. A migrant worker falls in love but wonders how he can present himself as a suitor. A young man, having lost the love of his life, takes it upon himself to resolve another couple’s dilemmas.
Konkani writer Damodar Mauzo’s sometimes bizarre, sometimes tender stories, set largely in Goa, create a world far removed from the sun and sand and the holiday resorts. Here you find villagers facing moral choices, children waking up to the realities of adult lives, men who dwell on remorse, women who live a life of regret and communities whose bonds are growing tenuous in an age of religious polarization. Probing the deepest corners of the human psyche with tongue-in-cheek humour, Mauzo’s stories reveal the many threads that connect us to others and the ease with which they can be broken. Written in simple prose and yet layered in nuances, The Wait is a collection that brings to the anglophone world one of the doyens of Konkani literature.
Nireeswaran (Vayalar and Kerala Sahitya Akademi winner): V.J. James
Publisher: Penguin India
Is it possible for society to exist without religion? Nireeswaran, the most celebrated of Malayalam novelist V.J. James’ works, uses incisive humour and satire to question blind faith and give an insight into what true spirituality is.
Three atheists, Antony, Sahir, and Bhaskaran, embark on an elaborate prank to establish that God is nothing but a superstition. They install a mutilated idol of Nireeswaran, literally anti-god, to show people how hollow their religion is. Their plan starts turning awry when miracles start being attributed to Nireeswaran, a man waking up from coma after 24 years, a jobless man ineligible for government employment getting a contract, a prostitute turning into a saint-leading hordes to turn up to worship the fake deity.
The trio is put in a quandary. Will they fight their own creation? Is their intractable minds an indication that atheism is a religion in itself? Belief and disbelief, it is possible, are two sides of the same coin. I am Onir and I am gay : Onir with Irene Dhar Malik
Publisher: Penguin India
The award-winning filmmaker Onir, whose directorial debut, ‘My Brother Nikhil’ (2005), broke new ground in LGBT representation on the Indian silver screen, opens up fully for the first time. From his childhood days in Bhutan to when he was a young man with no connections in the Hindi film industry who dreamt big and fought to carve a niche for himself, Onir takes the reader through his struggles and triumphs to offer an intimate glimpse of his fascinating journey to success. Now one of the few openly gay directors in Bollywood, Onir remains fearless about his identity and passionate about his role as a filmmaker in opening up the road to difficult conversations about identity and resilience.
Written with his sister Irene Dhar Malik, I Am Onir and I Am Gay is an emotionally gritty and unabashedly honest personal story is a pathbreaking narrative of hope, love and the pursuit of dreams.
Generation XL (Dr. Sanjay Borude)
Publisher: Penguin India
India has a paradox of malnourishment as well as morbid obesity. While children have fewer weight-related health and medical problems than adults, overweight children are at high risk of becoming overweight adolescents and adults, placing them at risk of developing chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes later in life. They are also more prone to develop stress, sadness, and low self-esteem.
The contributing factors could be many, besides genetic makeup and medical factors like hypothyroidism and Cushing’s Syndrome. Children today spend far more time on screens than playing games outdoors, more so in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Energy-dense foods and drinks are more readily available now than before. Psychological factors like stress also lead to overeating and increase the risk for obesity in childhood.
The book is a comprehensive roadmap for prevention and management of childhood obesity by one of India’s top bariatric surgeons. With real life case studies and examples, the book helps parents and children chart a roadmap to recovery and a fitter, healthier life. Without corrective action, there could be serious implications for future generations. Open House with Piyush Pandey (Piyush Pandey)
Publisher: Penguin India
In Open House, Piyush Pandey takes the readers on a journey into his mind-his work, thoughts and experiences. He answers questions posed to him by people over the decades. Serious questions, incisive questions and frivolous questions. Is advertising a good career option? Should ad agencies work for political parties? Why does Ogilvy work for the BJP? Should citizens take the law into their own hands if they don’t like the advertising? Is Ogilvy a lala company? What is the future of advertising? Is Piyush Pandey too old to be in this business?
Honest, irreverent and informative, this is a roller-coaster ride with Piyush Pandey and Anant Rangaswami who has skilfully curated the book. With its practical wisdom and deep insights, Open House will both entertain and enlighten you.
She adds that Emma, the Co-owner of Method, had seen parts of the work while curating another exhibition and suggested that she put them together in a singular show…reports Sukant Deepak
She says she would not know how to consciously keep writing and photography independent, and they intersect constantly. Quoting writer and photographer, Wright Morris, who said “I don’t give up the camera eye when I write, merely the camera,” writer and photographer Zahra Amiruddin says that these lines have always resonated with her deeply since the words and sentences she chooses are usually extremely visceral.
Her exhibition of photographs, ‘A Summer Slumber’ opened recently at Method, Bandra in Mumbai (till June 20), which is a culmination of a collective stream of consciousness, brought upon by the change of patterns, self-reflection and growth, Amiruddin says that she is a kind of an artist who first creates and then develops.
“I usually never photograph with an agenda in mind, unless it is for a commissioned assignment. I had been photographing the listless and endless afternoons during lockdown for quite a while. And over time, my collection had recurring themes and patterns running through them,” she tells.
In ‘A Summer Slumber’, the photographs are shifting memories, moving between the past and the present through digital and analogue imagery, and multiple videos.
They create a narrative of a season spinning inside the artist’s mind, flanked by the heat of the outdoor summer sun. Since Amiruddin is primarily interested in the act of photographing through feeling and not purely through observation, the body of work is a space to immerse oneself amid a memory — both current and distant.
She adds that Emma, the Co-owner of Method, had seen parts of the work while curating another exhibition and suggested that she put them together in a singular show.
“I was ecstatic but was hesitant about making the show about lockdown since I was rather saturated with that period in time. Instead, I brought together photographs of nostalgia, longing, a yearning for a place far from the one you’re in, and afternoon dreams that are often unfinished. Eventually, it felt like summer.”
For this writer and photographer, the viewfinder is an old friend who helps her both escape and discover. While photographing during her college days, she realised that it brought about a strange sense of confidence within her that urged her to wield, create and write with light.
“The human mind is so intriguing, it has countless ways of perceiving the same reality. And that was what photography brought to me, a tactile version of my own truth. Here, I’m strictly speaking about personal realities, and not documentary photography which needs to be as close to the truth as the image-maker can get. The viewfinder allows you to compartmentalise large worlds within four corners of a frame, and that to me is enchanting.”
Although, she had been photographing with her writing, it was in 2015 when she went to study at The Aegean Center for the Fine Arts in Paros, Greece, that she discovered an eye that was dormant all the while.
“I found a way to wield light through feeling there and to photograph by instinct and not by technique alone. I think that made a world of a difference.”
Stressing that both writing and photography are essential for her as what she cannot photograph, she writes about, and when she cannot find words, she wields images; the artist feels that it is paramount to inculcate passion for the form through experimentation with it in children.
“We get so caught up with the technical and theoretical aspects of art, that the development of instinct, observation and gut feeling takes a backseat. This is most unfortunate, because in my opinion, without feeling, there can never be true expression,” says Amiruddin, who has also taught at Sophia College, and conducted various workshops at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival.
She is currently developing a book with her photography collective named, ‘Eight Thirty’.
“We are a group of nine photographers who are women and live across the expanse of India but have still found a singular space to coexist. I am also finding ways to push myself to make my own photobook come to life.”
