Art N Soul

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B.N. Goswamy
During a trip to Kolkata, Prof B.N. Goswamy visited the Gurusaday Dutt Museum, with its overwhelming collection of folk art in everyday use. Of special interest to him were the various Kantha textiles, he writes. (Photo courtesy: Gurusaday Museum) This article appeared originally in The Tribune,…
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B.N. Goswamy
A Ramayana? For the Mughals? So closed are our minds, and so firm our prejudices, that the two words would be seen by most people as if they contained a natural contradiction. Prof. B.N. Goswamy writes about the Mughal version of Indian epics that were produced at and for the Mughal court in the…
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B.N. Goswamy
Intrigued by a lithograph titled ‘The Five Celestial Musicians of Hindu Mythology’ by Rajah Sir SM Tagore, Prof B.N. Goswamy records the circles that this picture made him run, and the joy of having worked something out: finally. (Photo courtesy: The Tribune) This article appeared originally in The…
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B.N. Goswamy
The art of photography has come a long, long way from those early days when photography was first introduced to the world. Prof. B.N. Goswamy recaptures the debate that developed in the art world, and the fissure that appeared. (Photo courtesy: Libreshot) This article appeared originally in The…
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B.N. Goswamy
Kutchi artwork is truly unique in the history of Indian painting. Prof. B.N. Goswamy writes about how the painters incorporated European elements while ‘recording’ their own, immediate environment (Photo courtesy: Rahul Zota/Wikimedia Commons) This article appeared originally in The Tribune,…
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B.N. Goswamy
Controversies and all, historians of Indian art tend to take another view of the 18th century Chief Justice Sir Elijah Impey. For he was a man who, despite all the prejudices he must have brought with him, became keen on Indian art. Prof. B.N. Goswamy talks about how some of the finest work turned…
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B.N. Goswamy
Nizam al-Din Abu Muhammad Ilyas bin Yousuf, known popularly, and simply, as Nizami, was one of the greatest Persian poets. Prof. B.N. Goswamy talks about the author of ‘Laila wa Majnun’ and his contribution to literature through the five-part Khamsa (Photo courtesy: Library of Congress/Wikimedia…
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B.N. Goswamy
The collection of texts, which goes under the name the Bower Manuscript, points towards things that India was known for throughout the pre-modern world once. Prof. B.N. Goswamy writes about this text written on birch bark dating to the Gupta period, and the sharing of ideas in ancient times between…
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B.N. Goswamy
Two books on the life and times of Burma in the early 20th century talk about Burmese silk having been 'introduced from Assam and China at an early date along the Irrawaddy Valley'. Prof. B.N. Goswamy talks about how 'hundreds of these Muneepoorian captives were put to weaving' in Burma in the…
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B.N. Goswamy
Ibn Batuta has often been called the 'greatest of Muslim travellers'. Prof. B.N. Goswamy writes how the Moroccan traveller was in every conceivable part of northern Africa and Asia, covering some 75,000 miles, over just twenty-nine years. (Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons) This article appeared…
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