Painted Prayers: Women's Art in Village India

Arts & Photography

Stephen P. Huyler

History & Criticism

THAMES HUDSON LTD

For hundreds of years, Indian women have passed to their daughters the knowledge of the ritual wall and ground paintings and decorations of the home that function as messages to the deities for the health and well-being of Indian families. Some ground paintings are daily rituals, made every morning at dawn, while wall paintings and mud bas-reliefs are often made for special festivals to honor the deities and attract their benevolent attentions. It is the women of India who are responsible for communication with the gods on behalf of their families, governing the activities of family members, and maintaining the sanctity and order of the home. Painted Prayers is a fascinating account of the centuries-old artistic traditions of women in village India, set forth in 170 full-color photographs that evoke the women's rich artistic heritage, and the pride and pleasure with which they regard their creative responsibilities. The knowledgeable text details the traditions, rituals, and beliefs behind this little-known art form and places this art in the context of contemporary Indian women's lives and the social realities of India today. This book is a splendid gallery of this diverse aspect of Indian art and a pictorial tour of the India travelers rarely see. Designs vary between the representational and the purely graphic: painted and sculpted images such as mounds of rice are drawn from local iconography, while elephants, peacocks and lotus blooms are symbols of the deities. Colors ranging from earth tones to reds, blues, yellow, green, and white make the designs stand out from the mud-covered walls and dusty streets, a vibrant testament to centuries of Indian women's artistic voices.

Rizzoli

Gifts of Earth: Terracottas & Clay Sculptures of India

Mapin Publishing

Sonabai Rajawar was one of the few self-taught artists of India, whose story expresses the capacity of human beings everywhere to meet their challenges head-on, and to draw from deep within their inner resources the strength and insight to change their lives. Sonabai: Another Way of Seeing is the result of years of research by the author. Through stories, insightful documentation and evocative images in colour, he conveys Sonabai s life and that of her family and community, portraying the remarkable productivity that resulted from her isolation, and the influence she had on the work of seven other local artists. For a decade and a half, Sonabai was forcibly removed from almost every thing she had known growing up. She found ways to transform her oppression into expressions of beauty and joy in living, creating an entirely new artistic expression with no guidance or instruction. Her art was completely different from anything ever seen in India before a world of colour, light, and whimsy all her own. The book and the accompanying DVD was published in conjunciton with an exhibition at the Mingei International Museum in San Diego in 2010. Foreword by Leslie Umberger.

Sonabai: Another Way of Seeing

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Books by Stephen P. Huyler