M.L. Kotru
Whatever else it may or may not have achieved these past few decades one thing is clear : the uncertainty and accompanying mayhem in parts of Jammu and Kashmir, has taken a heavy toll of the cultural well-being of the State. Creative arts, theatre included, have virtually gone into a limbo.
Jammu, the winter capital of the State has probably been better served when it comes to theatre, in particular, but the valley has had little to offer for many years now. The once flourishing theatre mostly manned by amateurs seems to have gone out of fashion. Art forms like painting, sculpture etc. have been in deep slumber except for the odd nudge one notices now and then, the nudge provided by local artists for the most part but more impressively by a handful of artists who, for one reason or another, have shifted to places like Delhi. The so-called cultural academies of the State have essentially been dormant, when it comes to promoting art forms like theatre, painting, folk arts, literature, et al.
Yes, there has been an unprecedented literary outpouring in recent years and predictably the purveyors of this endeavour have remained occupied by concerns stemming from terrorism, counter-terrorism, militancy, the migration from the valley of the Pandits. Some of the literacy effort has been simply outstanding, capturing most tellingly the prevailing sense of gloom even when some tend to give the feeling that everything is honky dory. Some of the accounts, representative of this mood, are remarkable, very well crafted, holding a mirror to life as it is lived in a situation marked by fear and a sense of homelessness. They are reflective of the grim mood which has been captured, indeed very well, by several artists. And by none so sharply as by the Delhi-based Kashmiri artist, Veer Munshi, who sums up the situation succinctly with his observation that culture is first to be hit and last to be heard in any situation of turmoil as has obtained a Jammu and Kashmir.
Like another of his contemporaries, the theatre personality, M.K. Raina, Veer Munshi has worked to relive his dream of reviving the somewhat dormant artistic genius of the people in the State. He has taken several initiatives already to develop a discourse among the artistic community, the one engaged in pursuing the common endeavors to break the shackles imposed by the prevailing sense of uncertainty.
Munshi has made a mark internationally as a multifaceted artist, his canvas stretched across, from South America to China from salons and galleries in many lands all over the globe. He, unabashedly and sometimes brazenly, flaunts his Kashmiri roots. He must be one of the few painters in the country to have transformed his Kashmir experience into the “language of painting”.
Given his commitment to art and its revival in the State Veer Munshi speaks somewhat proudly about his ambitious project to have migrant and resident artists of the State, the valley in particular, getting together at an interactive seminar/ work shop starting July 1. It will be a historical moment for J&K artist to come together and raise their voice and demand a cultural space of their own, he says. Many of the artists will be touching their home base after 24 years to share their experiences with fellow artists in the valley, he says. He feels very proud of his work as an artist portraying the ethos of Kashmir. “I myself will feel proud to be painting again in the valley after two decades.”
Veer Munshi, an internationally acclaimed artist of Kashmiri origin was born in Srinagar, studied at S.P. College, Srinagar and M.S. University Baroda and is currently practicing his art from his Gurgaon home and studio. He has 17 solo shows to his credit and has participated in around hundred shows all over the world. His pursuit has taken him across the five continents holding exhibitions and or attending workshops.
He is also one of few painters in India who is able to transform his experiences in Kashmir into the language of painting. He consistently uses his art to reflect his anguish at the situation in his home State, his pain and struggle spilling over onto his canvases. Making a human rights statement rather than a political one, he has constantly sought to highlight the turmoil that comes with separation from ones heritage, and to highlight the increasingly narrow space that exists for culture and art in his State.
Veer Munshi has addressed a range of subjects in the course of an artistic career that spans 35 years but exile remains his most fundamental preoccupation That Kashmir has remained the predominant subject of interest in his works is noticeable in the entire range of his work. His interest stands out prominently in his paintings, photography, installations, and video arts. He has documented the socio-political history of the Kashmiri diaspora through his works, which now lie in private and public collections in India and abroad.
Munshi curiously has played a major hand in bringing into focus the many splendored vignettes of life and culture of Jammu and Kashmir via his tableaus at successive Republic Day parades in the national capital : “It’s my own tribute to the land where I was born, just like the Lal Ded Centre in New Delhi,” where he promotes artists from J&K by organizing art camps and exhibitions. He is a prime mover behind this promising venture.
The J&K tableaus for Repubilc Day parade have brought him and the State nine times the best design and execution award. He has through this format of tableau/floats depicted different themes from the life and times of the people of the State, Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, the three distinct entities constituting the State. Heritage sights, shrines, dances, music, monuments, the tribes, Bhand, Drokpas, Baltis, Gujjars, Bakarwals, Lamas, Muslims, Dogras, Pandits and Sikhs have all been represented in many such floats. Munshi has converted his 17-year-old affair with floats into an opportunity to bring people from different parts of the State to Delhi for a month, thus exposing them to other ethnic and cultural strands from the rest of the country.
The Veer Munshi Art Initiative in Kashmir will obviously lead to a cross fertilization of ideas as the participating artists including Trilok Koul, Rajinder Tiku, Masood Hussain, M.A.Mehboob ,Shama Sondhi, Shabir Mirza, Bushan Koul, Aftab Ahmad, A.K Raina and others come to grips with various issues of artistic concerns during the seven-day camp in Srinagar. The initiative has been supported by a local trust in Kashmir.
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