The evening is presented by GLOBAL ARTS in collaboration with the Office of Student Life (OSL) and is initiated by Arts of the Deccan Course ARTS229/HIST235/LITT235.
Distinguished by high quality illuminations in gold foliage, consisting of a virtual forest of plants, animals, birds and arabesques, the Early Modern Deccan calligraphic works showcase intricate artistry and influential Deccani motifs borrowed from global Persian speaking worlds. While there are many styles of calligraphy such as naskh, thuluth, raihan etc, when the royal calligrapher Shah Kallilullah Khushnavis presented an illuminated copy of Kitab-i-Nauras written out in nasta'liq style calligraphy, to its author, Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah II (1580-1627) he gave Khalilullah the title Badshah-i-qalam (King of Pen) as a sign of his pleasure.
Qalamkari is a complex set of drawings on fabric done with a pen using mordant chemical catalysts that make the dye colour fast, then painted or dipped in the appropriate dye by applying a resist method. Making Qalamkari on cloth involves over sixteen painstaking steps. Deccani world mastered this technique and was a pioneer in exporting Qalamkari textiles to the world. These fabrics were highly in demand in China, Asia, Central Asia, Turkey, Persia and Americas. The glazed cotton fabric with intense floral motifs and geometric patterns were exported to the world over and came to be called popularly as Indian Chintz. Created by Golconda and other Deccani coastal region Qalamkari artistes, Chintz was primarily produced at Masulipatnam.
The Early Modern Deccan world between the 16th- 19th centuries burgeoned the finest art and literature. While history textbooks choose to remember this era through its war and strife, particularly characterising it as a clash between Hindu Rayas and Muslim Sultans, the unmistakable artistic, literary cultures reveal a complex interaction between people of all races, the networks between Deccani, Mughal, Persianate and European worlds and a cosmopolitan nature of life. We bring to you these histories through the QALAM, the Pen.
There will be two workshops. Poetry Challenges, Myth Breakers, Music, Art Installations and Attar Stalls will also be part of the evening. We invite students, faculty, artistes, photographers, poets, historians, performers and social media engagers on campus to join this evening to spend time with the artists and amplify Qalam-E-Tarikh through your own artistic engagement.
All are welcome to walk-in to watch. Those interested in learning must register for the workshop. Please do so by adding your name, preferred time slot for each workshop on the google form attached. Materials for the workshop will be provided.
