Small and beautiful

HYDERABAD: During medieval times, the illuminators used ivory, vellum, copper, or prepared card to create miniature artworks that were worn as lockets or kept in boxes as a display of wealth and position in the society. If the German Renaissance painter Hans Holbein the Younger was mastering the art of miniature portraitures in 1526–1528 in England, in India it already had started way back in the 10th century on palm leaves later becoming popular among its patrons as  Deccani, Pahadi, Rajasthani, and Mughal style of miniature painting. The art form thankfully isn’t extinct and is still practised by many artists far and wide.

That’s how as part of the exhibition titled ‘New Stories in Old Frames’ organised online by Dhi Artspace, Ameerpet the artworks are all miniatures painted by various artists and some of the opuses address challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.  There are four artists, who are part of the exhibition. They are Aniruddha Parit, Mainaz Bano, Poushali Das, Ravi Chunchula, and Sanket Viramgami. Artist Ravi Chunchula, who is from Hyderabad, has spent the past four months working on miniature paintings that have elements of the pandemic not in a Shakespearean way but in his very own way. He uses rice paper and old newspapers to create his opuses.

The Raidurgam-born artist shares, “I have been practising this art form since 2006 while I worked as a coordinator for Lalit Kala Akademi and later for another museum in Delhi.” Five of his works are part of the show. One of these paintings titled ‘Observations of a Pandemic Looker’ has a common man clad in denim trousers and a shirt; what makes this work unique is that he has more than one head.

The painter has deliberately made it look like as if he were gazing into trikaal in a moment. There are masks on these heads which, of course, denotes the times of the Covid-19 pandemic being witnessed. In another of his work ‘Reminiscence of Daily Musings’ he shows man’s burdens carried in form of a caged bird, a clay lamp, a bundle and a sack. All this while the look on his face is of angst beneath which lurks resilience.

The exhibition is on till August 6

Mini Takes
Since 10th century, miniature painting has been practised in India be it the Pahadi style or the Mughal style, now several artists are using this technique to address the challenges of Covid-19 as part of an online exhibition organised by Dhi Artspace, Hyderabad.

— Saima Afreen
saima@newindianexpress.com
  @Sfreen