On 8 January 2025, the Global Arts discipline, in collaboration with the Office of Student Life (OSL) and initiated by Arts of the Deccan Course ARTS229/HIST235/LITT235, presented an immersive evening about Deccani Art, Literature, and History.
There were two workshops, one of which focused on Qalamkari textiles. This intricate art involves creating detailed designs on fabric using a pen with mordant chemical catalysts to ensure the dye is colourfast. The fabric is then painted or dyed using a resist technique. In this workshop, taught by traditional Masulipatnam Qalamkari artist Pitambar, we learnt about the preparation of fabric and dyes and the process of block printing. We even had the opportunity to try our hand at block printing ourselves.
The other workshop was an introduction to the style of Nasta’liq calligraphy and was taught by artist Shaikh Ahsaanuddin of Gulbarga, who works with many styles of Perso-Arabic calligraphy, including the beautiful Nasta’liq style. These workshops not only introduced us to these art forms and allowed us to experience them firsthand; but they also showed us the skill and hard work required to create things we usually take for granted, such as fabric dyeing and beautiful calligraphy. It served as a reminder to support and learn the arts that come from communities around us.
These workshops were accompanied by Deccani music, samasya-puranas and a brief walkthrough on the history of Deccan by the students of the Arts of the Deccan Course. It was a great experience to learn from such established and experienced artists and I look forward to more such insightful and exciting events on campus!
A report by Pranvi Khare, Cohort of 2027, SIAS