Photo galleries added to JainaMishra.com recently have been linked below:
May 2012
PORTRAITS – MANGANIYAR MUSICIAN TRIBE OF RAJASTHAN
PORTRAITS – GARASIA TRIBE OF RAJASTHAN
PORTRAITS – GYPSY TRIBES OF RAJASTHAN
FESTIVAL – THE MEWAR GANGAUR FESTIVAL OF RAJASTHAN
April 2012
My explorations in ethnic and tribal art of various forms are posted here. You could either scroll down and read all the articles or click on the articles that interest you.
Ancient Murals of Alchi Monastery – an art collector’s delight
Antique Jain Paintings on textile
Christian Paintings from the Past
Church of Saint Francis Xavier of Assissi, Goa
Shadow Puppets of Indonesia, Malaysia and South India
Terracotta Warriors Xi’an, a photo gallery
Antique Java Topeng Masks and Wayang Topeng
Intricate Nyonya Glass Beadwork – antique pieces from the Peranakan Museum
Exquisite Vintage Kebayas – costume of the Peranakan Culture
Goan Portugese Houses – Art in Architecture
Breathtaking Mural Paintings of Sikkim Monasteries
Art in Buddhist Ritual Objects
Art in Sikkimese Monastery Architecture
Wood Art in Sikkimese Monasteries – Windows, Doors & Pillars
Textile Art of the Ahom Kingdom
Cultural Photography – Nikonista.org
Tribal Textile and Bead art of Nagaland
The Vishalla Collection – Utensil art
Tribal Fashion 1 :Art for the head and face
Tribal Fashion 2 : Art for the Head & Face (continued)
Tribal Fashion 3 : Art in Costumes
Tribal Fashion 4 : Tattoo Body Art
Tribal Fashion 5: Loin Cloth Art
New posts are added regularly.
jm
portrait photos culture photos tradition photos black and white photos black and white canvas prints cultures photos
tribe photos
tribe canvas printsethnic photosindia photostribal photostribal photostribal canvas printscultural photos
native photos
native photos
black and white prints
black and white framed printsblack and white posters
cultures canvas printscultures canvas prints
cultures prints
tribal posters
No words.
Just videos that I have taken on my phone camera at the Bagaur Haveli in Udaipur.
1. A folk musician plays a traditional instrument called the Raavanhatta :
2. A skillful puppet show with the puppets carrying fire torches
3. Young girls carrying pots of fire on their head as they dance gracefully
4. A folk dance with veiled women. Veils are a necessary element of the Rajasthani traditional dress especially when a woman appears before her husband. She may relax this rule before other men, but before her husband she is always veiled. Even when they progress in life and are promoted to the status of mothers and grandmothers, this custom remains with them.
5. A woman carrying several pots on her head as she dances. In part 2 she dances on a metal plate and in part 3 she dances on bits of glass!
6.Manjira folk Dances
The dancers use manjiras or small cymbals to create musical notes as they dance. Usually the two parts of a pair are tied to each other with a and one is held in each hand and clapped together to create a sound. In this case one set is tied to an elbow or a knee and the other is hit on it to create the sound. Each woman has several pairs that she uses skillfully to create music as she dances.
7. Manganiyars are an ethnic group of folk singers. People confuse the name ‘manganiyars’ to mean the name of the group or band that performs internationally. This is a whole community of people that sings for their livelihood.
8.
Hi resolution images of these dances available on JainaMishra.com
back to “Colors of Mewar, Rajasthan”
jm
April 2012
p.s. Ticket price for the entire show = US$ 2 !!
In a lighter vein….
***
Art delights the senses.
Foods that I have enjoyed enough to reminesce about them….foods that I have spent time anticipating …foods that become the reason for planning a trip to a suburb – are nothing less than art. Each deserves its own pedestal in my conceptual museum of food art.
This form of art is unique – as it must be consumed soon after its creation and for the next person to delight in its beauty, a new batch must be created. And so, the artist must be present in order to deliver the art. So every item on this list contains a combination of food item + provider.
And here I have listed the nominees for this museum.
In the first list I have put down pieces of art that remain largely unknown and undiscovered. The second list contains delicacies that have been discovered long ago and were famous before I came along.
LIST A
1. Prawn Curry at The Old Mango Tree in Candolim, Goa
2. Hazelnut Flan at Pali Village Cafe in Bandra, Mumbai
3. Goan Prawn Butter Garlic at O’Cuzneirho in Caranzalem, Goa
4. Ras Gulla at Banarasi on Khar West station road, Mumbai (freshest and most amazing at noon- several times I have eaten a whole dozen in 1 sitting)
5. Toasted Cheese Sandwich at Swastik in Santacruz West Market, Mumbai
6. Lassi out Dadar Station (Central), Mumbai
7. Mawa Cakes from Merwan Bakery, outside Grant Road Station (East), Mumbai
LIST B
a. Pani Puri at Elco, Bandra, Mumbai ( 12 puris or 2 plates is a satisfying quantity)
b. Malai Kulfi with Rabri at Elco, Bandra Mumbai
And more to come as I think of all the food fun I have had in life!
***
jm
Dec 31st 2011
For an Indian born and raised in urban India, discovering the diverse spectrum of cultures in the extreme geographical ends has been a journey filled with revelations about India’s identity. “Undefinable” is the only word that defines India.
A few impressions from my journey presented in an online exhibition.
ABOUT THE IMAGES
These are all normal everyday people. Fashionable. Elegant. Settled souls. Alive with spirit. Compassionate. Hospitable. Unafraid. Bonded. Happy. Even though they live in harsher circumstances.
The heightened black in the imagery is intentional and represents the harsh tones of their circumstance. It provides the base darkness that their brilliant spirit pierces through and lights up the image.
The exhibits on this article have now been removed.
In November 2012, a brick-and-mortar exhibition at ‘The Arts House” will be held in Singapore. About 60 portraits will be showcased. Please look for the announcements page or email me for details.
jm
November 2011
Alchi is a sleepy and simple unglorified village about 70 km to the West of Leh. Nothing in its approach route or in the buildings and structures of the village prepares you for the the visions that are about to blind you with their sheer beauty.
Even as you park in a tiny cramped space and walk between the curio shops that line the path to the gate of the monastery, you are not being prepared for the impact.
When the monastery building is sighted, it looks ordinary. Just like the many more you have seen in Ladakh – and if a comparison must be made, then these buildings look much less spectacular – much less artistically designed. And so you walk on. With a blank mind. Expecting to see a little historical stuff, memories of which will merge with the rest of the art seen in Ladakh. With so much exposure from photographing the art of the Thiksey, Hemis and Chemrey monasteries, the eyes are already well exposed and well saturated in the beauty of Ladakhi art. And so I am expecting a repetition, one more day of ‘ordinary’ beauty – i.e. ordinary in Ladakh, even though on the world platform it is spectacular.
I stop for a river side shot at the entrance, distracted by the bird’s eye view from the hillside on which Alchi monastery is located. I am in no hurry to go look at whats inside. Because I simply do not know what lies waiting for me. They said murals. And that sounded nice but my adrenalin was not really shooting up, after exposure to so many murals.
In all my years of collecting art, contemporary painting have never attracted me. They are nice but I never have felt the need and the greed to possess them. Antique paintings are another matter. The few that I have, I can stare at for hours and feel grateful for having my eyes to view them, and for having had the little money it took to buy them when I did. I have also lusted for several Indian folk paintings put up in museums to the point of feeling very very sad and dejected that I can never possess these. Antique and ancient paintings do bring out the worst greed in me.
So with this mindset I enter the temple complex. Pay the entrance fees to a monk, get my ticket, take off my shoes and step inside the dark unlit hall of the first temple. Windows at the top of the structure allow a little rays of light inside, and those allow me my first glimpses, until my eyes adjust to the dimness.
It was like being hit by a tidal wave of beauty, of color and of caricature. Completely swamped by painted art all 360 degrees around me, my vision was going crazy trying to capture it all. Adrenalin levels were getting unbearable. It was like the explorers of Egyptian pyramids must have felt when they first sighted the rooms full of treasures. I was getting drunk on the visuals. It was a feast and I was so thrilled and exhilerated to be there! All these extreme emotions, in a place of dim light, complete silence, peace and serenity – were completely antithetic. With Buddha watching over me, my eyes were dancing wildly as my spirit followed. It was truly intoxicating to be there. In one of Osho Rajneesh’s talks he describes a ‘baavla’ a spirit who loses himself in dancing to the beat of the universe. That word described me in those moments – losing myself dancing to the visions of those paintings. I lost awareness of all my senses …..except my eyes….the eyes were racing to keep up with the thirst of the brain.
Cameras were not allowed inside. And I have no pictures from inside the monastery temples. But a few from the structures outside the temples will be posted below in October.
My memory will not remember the details of all I saw and that is really sad….because these visuals are easily the most beautiful paintings I have ever seen.
Here are some images of the interiors of the outer chortens:
The paintings here cause a pain in the heart for art collectors, who may see and may covet but may never own these….I have felt the pain of intense greed in this monastery and felt the pain of futility of desire …..The irony is stark and glaring ….maybe my spiritual quotient needs some attention!
Hi res images of the complete set of Alchi mural images is available on www.jainamishra.com
jm
Sept 2011
Jainism as a religion has harmony with all elements of nature as one of the core beliefs. Non violence, minimalistic living and compassion are values central to its philosophy. All its followers are gentle people. The community is probably one of the wealthiest in India, yet they live quiet austere lives. My new father (‘step father’ doesn’t sound as nice) is a Jain and among the nicest people I have ever met.
A few examples of the amazing Jain religious paintings on textiles.
“Lokapurush”
These images are of exhibits at the Asian Civilisations Museum.
jm
August 2011
Crowned Buddha in Dharmachakra, 11th century. This sculpture is a typical representation of ‘Pala’ art found in Bihar, India. Many such scultpures were placed in niches around the Bodh Gaya temple.
Stone relief with scenes from the life of Buddha, 4th – 5th century found in Gandhara North West India:
Sandstone scultpure of Buddha protected by Naga Muchalinda, 11th – 12th century, Cambodia
Head of Buddha, Lte 18th century, Shan state, Burma
Multi armed Quan Am, Lacquered and guilded bronze, 18th century or later, North Vietnam,
Buddhist art covers a wide spectrum of longitudes – from Gandhara to Japan, some discovered some waiting to be discovered.
The art and the philosophy are undeniably beautiful. But the irony is not. Buddha preached against idol worship. But mankind ended up making idols of him and worshipping those idols.
The poem in Hindi by literateur Harivanshrai Bachan titled “Buddha aur Naach Ghar” (recitation link) is a good starting point for a longer exploration of this irony.
jm
August 2011
All the above images are of exhibits at the Asian Civilisation Museum, Singapore
Old. Beautiful. Full of stories. Full of devotion. Antique Church Paintings. Many of these are on wood board. Others may be on canvas. Some hang high up on walls and are hard to see in real life. These stunning works of art do not need a commentary.
Large format copies of these are available on www.jainamishra.com
jm
july 26th, 2011
I studied at St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai, and my school was a convent run by a nun order that is closely associated with the Jesuit priests, an order started by St. Francis Xavier. The realisation that my life was linked to St. Francis Xavier’s work, did not occur to me until my 4th visit to the Old Goa Church Complex this year.
Saint Xavier has a huge following in the Christian world.
He also initiated large scale crimes against humanity through the inquisition motivated by religion. (link)
Visits to the complex are always thought provoking: Is religious killing justified more than any other kind of killing? In religious ideology, do the ends justify the means? Is sainthood appropriate for anyone tainted with such an association? Who decides which religious group may be condoned for its killings and which will be labeled terrorists?
In this church complex itself there is a painting in which Christian priests are being burnt at the stake by evil Mughals. Is that as justified as the Christian priests burning alive of Hindus who converted to Christianity but failed to comply with the new rules? Or do we have different views depending on which side we are on? Is there any sense to any of this killing?
Many unresolved questions poke their ugly heads… but since I am not religious all these matters are of academic interest to me and peripheral to my consciousness.
But balancing all these ugly questions, are the beauty that religion always produces ….art born out of religious devotion. And if the quality of this art is any measure then it appears that religion does bring out the best in people …arts all over the world are proof of this.
And in any case I am certain that none of my modern day friends would support such crimes in the name of religion, no matter which religion proposes them and which religion they belong to.
And so it is easy to zoom out of the ugly questions and zoom in to the beautiful objects that are legacies transported across centuries.
A few images from the church complex:
The body of St. Xavier
A visit to this church complex is rewarding.
For a larger set of pro images, please visit www.jainamishra.com
A related article on Christian Painting from the past to be published soon.
jm
July 2011
