Fine Arts & Visual Studies - Page 4

The Way of the Firang: Illustrating European Social Life and Customs in Mughal Miniatures (1580 CE -1628 CE)

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Soujit Das1  & Ila Gupta2

1Assistant Professor of History of Art, Government College of Art and Craft Calcutta, West Bengal, India.

2Retired Senior Professor, Department of Architecture and Planning & Joint Faculty, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India.

 Volume 12, Number 5, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n5.rioc1s1n1

Abstract

During the sixteenth century, along with the rise of the Mughal Empire, the social landscape of India changed drastically with the advent of the European colonial powers. In 1580 CE, following the First Jesuit Mission to the Court of Emperor Akbar, a new cross-cultural dialogue was initiated that not only impacted the socio-economic and political fabric but also the artistic productions of the time. The growing presence of the European traders, ambassadors, soldiers, and missionaries in the Mughal world also lead to several curious narratives that were widely circulated. These tales also gave birth to cultural misconceptions as the Europeans on several occasions were seen as social evils. They were often collectively addressed as Firang/Farang or ‘Franks’ and were perceived as ‘strange and wonderful people’ or ‘ajaib-o-ghara’ib’. It was during the Mughal reign when for the first time in Indian visual culture, a conscious attempt was made to document the life and customs of the European people. This paper attempts to understand how the processes of cultural alienation and Occidentalism had influenced the representation of Europeans in Mughal miniatures. It also argues how Mughal artists innovate new iconographic schemes to represent and perpetuate a sense of the ‘other’. How artists used these identity markers to establish notions of morality as well as of Islamic cultural superiority. The select illustrations also attempt to elucidate how these representations of Europeans were culturally appropriated and contributed to the Mughal ‘fantasy excursions’.

Keywords: Firang, Mughal, miniatures, Occidentalism, cross-cultural encounters

Indian Art and European Science: Patnakalam and Colonial Botanical Drawings

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Saumya Garima Jaipuriar

Assistant Professor, Department of English, Kirorimal College, University of Delhi.

ORCID: 0000-0002-4336-6278Email: sgjaipuriar@gmail.com,

 Volume 12, Number 4, July-September, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n4.14

 Abstract

This paper seeks to explore how scientific documentation fuelled by Enlightenment and indigenous art intermingled to create Patnakalam in nineteenth century India. Patnakalam, a school of painting that flourished in Patna, Bihar in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, came into existence with the complex interactions between an indigenous artistic tradition and a western visual sensibility mediated by the requirements of science. Botanists of the East India Company employed native artists to make illustrations of local plant species in an attempt to scientifically catalogue all of the natural resources of the region. This inevitably contributed to the formation of a style of painting which went on to have an enduring legacy far beyond their taxonomical albums.

Keywords: Company Painting, Patnakalam, Modern Indian Art, Indian Art History, British Colonial History, Age of Enlightenment

Cakapura: A Unique Ritual-painting Tradition of India

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Sanjay Sen Gupta

School of Fine Arts, Amity University, Kolkata, India. ORCID: 0000-0003-0824-9145.

Email:  ssgupta@kol.amity.edu

 Volume 12, Number 4, July-September, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n4.05

Abstract

Caka refers to a square – a lateral space on the ground – while pura means filling up. Together they identify a unique form of ritual painting, executed during the festival of Bandna all across the land of ancient Manbhum – including parts of today’s West Bengal and Jharkhand. In this tradition, a specially prepared liquid pigment is dripped with all the five fingers of the hand – creating sacred designs by the village women effortlessly on their ritual-grounds. This linear emotion often gets extended upon the adjoining wall – where the same pigment is sprinkled with the fingers, along with impressions added with the palm and finger-tip. As a whole, this form of visual expression could be distinguished and identified in comparison to any other floor or wall paintings in India. It’s undoubtedly one of the finest examples – all in terms of technique, style and aesthetics – representing the rich folk-tribal tradition of this country.

Keywords: Cakapura, Bandna, Manbhum, Mahato, Purulia, ritual, painting, tradition

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