Culture

Late in the sixteenth century, a master artist from the Mughal emperor Akbar’s atelier adopted the technique of using monochromatic tones with highlights of colour or gold. Known as ‘nim qalam,’ Persian for ‘half pen,’ or ‘siyah qalam’ for ‘black pen’, this technique was eventually adopted by artists in the Deccan, and later the Rajput courts. Although its precise origins remain uncertain, nim qalam continues to be used by contemporary South Asian artists working on manuscript painting.

Once a two-armed attendant to the goddess Tara, over time, Marichi was increasingly endowed with power until she became a deity in her own right. Revered as a warrior and guardian against evil and darkness, Marichi’s imagery reveals myriad symbolisms — from her association with the sun to her role as a fierce protector. Read about the multifaceted nature of Marichi's mythology and imagery, spanning nations, cultures, and time.

Asia Research News monitors the latest research news in Asia. Some highlights that caught our attention this week are a floating platform that needs no energy, how shredding your anger can make you feel better, and an automatic lid that can help reduce bacteria in your bathroom.

Asia Research News monitors the latest research news in Asia. Some highlights that caught our attention this week are where music affects our bodies, a battery powered by the oxygen inside our bodies, and the largest bird family tree to date.

In India’s dry, western-most state — Rajasthan — the gods are carried from village to village, and tales that surround the deity are narrated so that the devout may be blessed. The gods are housed in a ‘kavad’, a portable shrine adorned with intricate narrative paintings of folk tales and epics. Constructed from low-density wood and painted with mineral-derived pigments, the kavad serves as a conduit for the oral storytelling tradition known as kavad banchana. Learn about the synergy between the makers, painters and patrons of these shrines, and how this tradition continues to evolve.

In the late 1930s, French archaeologists discovered a large and remarkable group of ivory sculptures, in Afghanistan's Begram (present-day Bagram). Stipulated to have been used as accents or embellishments for wooden furniture, these carved objects showcase a blend of Greco-Roman, Central Asian, Mediterranean, and Indic stylistic influences. Despite the political upheavals in the region, some of these ivory artefacts still survive. Explore how ongoing scholarly efforts shed light on the historical significance of these art objects, highlighting the cultural connections that were built and flourished along the Silk Road.

In celebration of International Women's Day, we are putting the spotlight on women experts from various fields who are open to speaking with international media about their research and advocacies.

In the early seventeenth century, the royal ateliers of the Mewar kingdom, in present-day western India, witnessed the emergence of a new miniature painting tradition. The Mewar School, as it is known, was patronised by the ruling Sisodia dynasty. Stemming from manuscript illustration, this tradition evolved to encompass intricately detailed portraiture. Delve into the evolution of the Mewar School, tracing its distinct styles, aesthetic influences, master artists, and the shifting preferences of its royal patrons.

Dated to the fourteenth century, the Chandayana is a Sufi romance that narrates the story of the lovelorn protagonists — Chanda and Laurik — in rhyming couplets. It was composed in the Awadhi dialect of Hindi, by the Chishti poet Mulla Daud. Five illustrated manuscripts of the poem were created between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and they are housed in five different locations worldwide. These illustrated texts provide a lens into the history of manuscript paintings in the Indian subcontinent.

Nestled in northern Karnataka, the Badami cave temples of India are adorned with a unique blend of intricate carvings that draw religious motifs from Shaivite, Vaishnavite and Jain traditions. Learn more about these 2nd-century rock-cut shrines that bear testament to ancient Indian royal patronage and religious syncretism.

Three young fellows supported by IDRC’s Knowledge for Democracy Myanmar are tackling crucial issues in women’s rights, economic empowerment, and climate change through their research and advocacy endeavours.

The Punjab regions of India and Pakistan bear witness to a centuries-old, laborious tradition of embroidering cloth with silk threads. Called Vari da Bagh and Bagh, meaning “‘garden”’, these textiles are ritually significant and are adorned with geometric patterns or motifs that draw from the everyday life and culture of the region.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, religious ivory statuettes sculpted in colonial Goa sported a unique amalgamation of European and ancient Indian symbolisms. Discover the history of this Indo-Portuguese iconography and its ties to local evangelism, slavery and colonial export.

Amongst the earliest objects unearthed from Gandhara are carved stone dishes depicting guardian spirits, mythical creatures and scenes of merrymaking. Despite the carvings being rich in artistic and cultural information, they reveal little about the functions of these objects. Learn more about these enigmatic artefacts, and the material history of ancient Gandhara.

Lingnan University and Harvard University jointly hosted the Harvard-Lingnan Symposium: “The Avant-Garde X Hong Kong and the New South” at the Lingnan@WestKowloon at M+ Tower of West Kowloon Cultural District from 4 to 5 December 2023. The symposium brought together 18 distinguished scholars from top universities worldwide, along with three prominent Sinophone writers: Ban Yu from Northern China, Chen Chuncheng from Southern China, and Lee Wai-yi from Hong Kong. The symposium attracted an online audience of more than 600 and 100 scholars and students were present at the venue. Taking Hong Kong as both a physical nexus and symbolic vantage point, the symposium explored the theoretical prospects of the avant-garde in relation to the emerging discourse of the “New South”, a concept derived from recent studies in Chinese literature.

Academician Fan-sen Wang has been awarded the 2023 Humboldt Research Award by Germany’s Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, in recognition of his achievements and impact on historical scholarship. He is the first Taiwanese scholar in the field of humanities to receive this honor.

Since nearly the twelfth century, painters, called ‘patuas’, lived around the Jagannatha Temple at Puri in Odisha, painting tales from Hindu and Islamic religious mythologies, and local legends onto cloth scrolls. Discover how the rituals and festivals of the temple, and its principal deities — Jagannatha, Balabhadra, and Subhadra — inspire these paintings.

The Academy of Visual Arts (AVA) under the School of Creative Arts (SCA) at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) proudly announces the launch of the inaugural “Art Futures Awards”, an international art award which is the first of its kind in Asia.

Created by western India’s nomadic Vaghri community, mata ni pachedi is a tradition of cloth painting dating back 300 years. Originally meant as canopies for shrines and as objects of ritual worship, these textiles depict a pantheon of local goddesses surrounded by regional motifs. Read on to understand how printing, painting and cloth come together in religious consumerism.

… all while discovering how the Universe evolved, how galaxies form and where the elements come from.

Since the 3rd century CE, master puppeteers of southern India have brought the epics of the subcontinent to life through Tholu Bommalata, a form of shadow puppetry performed with elaborate, life-sized leather puppets. Come discover this intricate musical theatre tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation and continues to thrive to this day.

The Cholamandal Artists' Village was established in 1966 to encourage self-sufficiency, community living and the creation of a South Indian visual identity. Since then, it has undergone a transformative journey. Discover its history and achievements.

Between the seventh and ninth centuries, south peninsular India experienced a cultural renaissance, resulting from the extensive patronage of a powerful dynasty, the Pallavas. Discover their unique contributions to the arts and literature of the time, which led to the creation of a new, Dravidian idiom of temple architecture in South Asia.

Asia Research News monitors the latest research news in Asia. Some highlights that caught our attention this week are the confirmation of a route that humans took to migrate from Africa, how pheromones can influence beetle behavior, and microplastics found in cloud water.

Amidst the political tumult of nineteenth-century colonial India, Abanindranath Tagore — an artist from Bengal — set out to invent a new ‘Indian’ visual language, rejecting European artistic ideals. He pioneered a style that combined themes from mythology, history, and rural life, with elements from India’s miniature painting traditions. This would evolve into the Bengal School — a movement that reimagined a distinctly Indian approach to art. Tagore influenced an entire generation of artists and left a lasting impact on the quest for Indian identity during the struggle for Independence.

Lingnan University's Alumni Relations Team of Office of Institutional Advancement and Public Affairs (OIAPA) has organised its first-ever month-long themed café at the Jao Tsung-I Academy (JTIA) in Lai Chi Kok from 24 August till 23 September. With the aim of “Sharing Lingnan History with the community”, the “Lingnanian pop-up café” features unique characteristics of Lingnan's culture, heritage, and development milestones, along with “Red Grey Special Menu” and “Reading Corner” with historical publications. This initiative aims to enable the public to gain insights into the university’s storied history and remarkable achievements while fostering connections among alumni and Lingnanians, inviting everyone to savor the Lingnan legacy while enjoying the aroma of coffee.

In the mid-sixteenth century, Mughal emperor Humayun brought two Persian master painters to India, who not only established an imperial atelier but also began a major tradition of miniature painting in South Asia — Mughal manuscript paintings. This painting tradition flourished for centuries, enjoying royal patronage and resulted in the illustration of significant literary texts, scriptures, biographies, dynastic histories and scientific literature. Known for their naturalism and intricacy, Mughal paintings also combined a range of influences — Persian, Indian and European — and were often made collaboratively by artists and other specialists in the imperial ateliers, known as kitabkhanas. Discover the legacy and lasting influence of this painting tradition and its eventual decline in the late eighteenth century.

Traditionally woven in Gujarat, India, mashru — meaning ‘lawful’ or ‘permitted’ in Arabic — was invented to allow Muslims to wear silk garments despite injunctions against it in the Hadith, an important Islamic religious text offering teachings and moral guidance. The fabric’s innovative weaving technique, where each silk warp crosses six cotton wefts, keeps silk from touching the body when worn. Whilst the earliest visual references to mashru date back to the seventeenth-century in the Deccan region of southern India, the fabric has lived many lives, gaining popularity amongst Islamic populations in India, West Asia and Africa as it was traded along Indian Ocean maritime routes.

In the early seventeenth century, a new painting tradition — characterised by its use of bold colours, gilding and gem-setting — emerged in the Thanjavur region of southern India. While Thanjavur paintings originally featured gods and saints, the tradition grew to incorporate secular subjects owing to a range of influences over the next several centuries, including Mughal, Maratha, and European art. Thanjavur paintings continue to be popular as memorabilia and worship objects, and are one the most recognisable South Indian painting styles today.

Greetings from JHSSR, Horizon is proud to announce the highly acclaimed publication of the latest issue of 2023, Vol. 5, Issue 1 (Jul. 2023). The issue is now live at the Journal’s webpage. You may explore our range of contributions within this Issue. Explore this issue, click the links below.