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Reading Visuals – Gulammohammed Sheikh The assault on Lanka by Sahibdin, Ramayana, Mewar, c. 1649-53, courtesy the British Library, London. devices to bring historical chronicles to life do not exist, or else they appear alien. Attempts to incorporate aspects of naturalism drawn from the Mughal example are visible, but such features are part of the premise of using devices from existing practices. In the same sense, local linguistic devices serve the purpose of contextualising the narrative in the land of Mewar. With traditional antecedents steeped in poetic narratives, any naturalistic options of engaging with the fabulous would have seemed too remote. Instead of the detailed characterisation of figures and landscape in the mode of the Mughal atelier, a raw energy pervades the bold and often robust figuration. Charged images spring out of the page to draw the viewer’s eyes and mind and effortlessly enter the narrative. The deployment of continuous narration serves to replay action and accentuate rhythmic progression in the tenor of a flowing verse, like balladry sung in a high pitch. The painted epic set in the rugged and colourful terrain of Mewar necessitates a hotter palette. Whereas the metaphoric colouration in the Mughal pictorialisation involved metallic or mineral tones, the hues in Sahibdin’s Ramayana are drawn from sources of nature and evoke physical sensations such as temperature and taste. Bound by broad borders of deep scarlet or crimson, the folios set the theatre of action upon ‘flat’ grounds of turmeric- or mustard-yellow, wildflower vermilions or foliage 17
ArtConnect: The IFA Magazine, Volume 6, Number 1 Rama and Lakshmana astride monkeys charging towards Lanka, Ramayana, Mewar, c. 1649-53, courtesy the British Library, London. 18 greens. A rich fare of spiced sensations, whether of tranquility or of turbulence, continues to suffuse the mise-en-scene, whether it shows life in the forest or on the battleground. The grand project, which chapterises the epic narrative in a series of folios, deals with everything from the most mundane and domestic to the most dramatic with equal care and concern. There are delightful vignettes of typical Rajasthani customs in the ritual blessing of the married couples by the grooms’ mothers. In the chapter on Exile, life in the forest is depicted with Rama building a cottage, Lakshmana hunting a deer or roasting venison on spits, Sita cooking or waiting in the cottage while the brothers eat, Rama shooting the crow that had pecked Sita’s breast, and so on. In the Kishkindha chapter, the monkey king Sugriva entertains Rama and Lakshmana by offering them betel leaves (paan) as his army spreads out to locate the whereabouts of the kidnapped Sita. Similarly in the Yuddha-kanda, in the story of Indrajit’s yagna to attain invisibility, the wounding of the heroic brothers followed by a remarkable depiction of Hanuman tearing off a mountain peak for the life-saving herbs is portrayed with the flowing continuity of a poetic narrative.
Page 2 and 3: Contents EDITORIAL 3 READING VISUAL
Page 4 and 5: IFA has collaborated with Adishakti
Page 6 and 7: Reading Visuals: Timeless Voyages o
Page 10 and 11: The divine messenger (Agnipurusha)
Page 12 and 13: they sit in mournful contemplation
Page 14 and 15: upon a blue-gold sky. Or elsewhere
Page 16 and 17: his daughter in marriage. Dasharath
Page 20 and 21: It is difficult to summarise the na
Page 22 and 23: There are numerous other sights tha
Page 24 and 25: produces a rare form of intimate ye
Page 26 and 27: Reading Visuals - Gulammohammed She
Page 28: set upon a luminous red ground. In
Page 31 and 32: Myth Retold: Variants of the Story
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Wayang Kulit: Where Ravana Dances i
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Wayang Kulit - Eddin Khoo the Javan
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I could explain what Malaysia is, c
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when a member of your family is suf
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Wayang Kulit - Eddin Khoo 77 Hanuma
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Wayang Kulit - Eddin Khoo Ravana or
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closest to the audience is the most
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Wayang Kulit during the 1970s, 1980
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Wayang Kulit - Eddin Khoo Winged in
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the aim was to ‘museumise’ this
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