M odernism and the Art of Muslim South Asia Isl amic Civilization & Muslim Networks Carl W. Lawrence, editors M odernism and the art of muslim south asia iftikhar dadi k_\le`m\ij`kpf]efik_ZXifc`eXgi\jj:_Xg\c?`cc Publication © 2010 The University of North Carolina Press All rights reserved of this book was Manufactured in the United States of America supported by grants from the Designed by Richard Hendel Set in Whitman and Scala types by Tseng Information Systems, Inc. Hull Memorial Publication Fund, The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and the Institute for durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. Comparative Modernities, the The University of North Carolina Press has been a member Society for the of the Green Press Initiative since 2003.
Humanities, and Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data the Department Dadi, Iftikhar. of the History of Modernism and the art of Muslim South Asia / Iftikhar Dadi. — (Islamic civilization and Muslim networks) Art, all at Cornell Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-8078-3358-2 (cloth : alk.
Art, South Asian—20th century. Art, Islamic—South Asia. Modernism (Aesthetics)—South Asia—History—20th century. Transnationalism—Islamic countries.
Art and society—South Asia—History—20th century.0882970954—dc22 2009039273 14╇ 13╇ 12╇ 11╇ 10â•… 5╇ 4╇ 3╇ 2╇ 1 Contents Acknowledgments╇ xi Note on Transliteration╇ xv introduction Modernism in South Asian Muslim Art╇ 1 1 abdur rahman chughtai Mughal Aesthetic in the Age of Print╇ 46 2 mid-century modernism Zainul Abedin, Zubeida Agha, and Shakir Ali╇ 93 3 sadequain and calligraphic modernism╇ 134 4 emergence of the public self Rasheed Araeen and Naiza Khan╇ 177 epilogue The Realm of the Contemporary╇ 217 Glossary╇ 229 Notes╇ 231 Bibliography╇ 269 Index╇ 295 This page intentionally left blank Illustrations I.1 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, Mughal Artist, ca.2 Muhammad Ali, Poet in a Flower Garden, ca.3 Hashim, Khan Khanan Abd ar-Rahim, ca.4 Daulat, Daulat the Painter and Abd al-Rahman the Scribe, ca.5 Bichitr, Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings, ca.6 Horse Race towards Civilization, 1881╇ 26 1.1 Abanindranath Tagore, The Passing of Shah Jahan, ca.2 Abanindranath Tagore, Bharat Mata, 1905╇ 53 1.3 Cover of Chatterjee’s Picture Albums╇ 54 1.4 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, Jahanara and the Taj, 1970╇ 63 1.5 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, Yasoda, 1951╇ 64 1.6 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, Arjuna, 1951╇ 65 1.7 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, illustration and illumination in Muraqqaʿ-i Chughtaʾi, 1928╇ 68 1.8 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, The Old Lamp, illustration in Muraqqaʿ-i Chughtaʾi, 1928╇ 69 1.9 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, illustration in Muraqqaʿ-i Chughtaʾi, 1928╇ 70 1.10 Anonymous German artist, portrait of Ghalib, 1925╇ 71 1.11 History of the publication of illustrated editions of FitzGerald’s Rubaiyat╇ 73 1.12 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, cover design for Iqbal’s poem Khizr-i rah, 1922╇ 74 1.13 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, cover design for N. Rashid’s poetry collection Mavara, ca.14 Abdur Rahman Chughtai attending an exhibition on Iqbal, 1948╇ 82 1.15 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, Mourning for Baghdad, 1968╇ 86 1.16 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, College Girls, 1954╇ 91 2.1 Zainul Abedin, Famine Sketch, 1943╇ 100 2.2 Zainul Abedin, Life in Bangladesh, 1970╇ 102 2.3 Zainul Abedin, frontispiece of Ela Sen, Darkening Days, 1944╇ 104 2.4 Zainul Abedin, Two Santhal Women, 1951╇ 105 2.5 Zainul Abedin, The Struggle, 1959╇ 106 2.6 Zainul Abedin in his office at the Dacca Art Institute╇ 108 2.7 Zainul Abedin, Way to Quaid’s Grave, 1948╇ 109 2.8 Zubeida Agha, Metamorphosis, 1947╇ 114 2.9 Zubeida Agha, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, 1949╇ 115 2.10 Zubeida Agha with Shakir Ali and Ali Imam, 1955╇ 115 2.11 Zubeida Agha, In the Forest, 1958╇ 117 2.12 Shakir Ali, Village Scene with Three Deers, 1941╇ 121 2.13 Shakir Ali with poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz, ca.14 Shakir Ali, Still Life of Flower in Spring, 1955╇ 127 3.1 Calligraphic exercises in shikasta, by ʿAbd al-Majid╇ 137 3.2 Identical text in nastaʾliq and shikasta, in pamphlet “What Is Communism?,” early twentieth century╇ 138 3.3 Annemarie Schimmel, drawing of human face made up of letters according to the usage of Persian poets╇ 139 3.4 Rider on an epigraphic horse, India, perhaps Bijapur, late sixteenth century╇ 139 3.5 Hashim, Mulla Muhammad Khan Vali of Bijapur, ca.6 Lithographic portrait of Ghalib, probably late nineteenth century╇ 140 3.7 “Hilya” of Mr.8 Genealogical chart of calligraphers╇ 142 3.9 Sadequain, Quest for Knowledge, 1959╇ 147 3.10 Sadequain, Awara (Vagabond), ca.11 Sadequain, Genesis: Lady amidst Mountain Cacti, ca.12 Sadequain, Bull in the Studio Mirror, 1960╇ 152 3.13 Sadequain, Composition in Kufi, ca.14 Sadequain, Treasures of Time, 1961╇ 154 3.15 Sadequain, Saga of Labor, 1967╇ 155 3.16 Sadequain with his father in Paris, 1967╇ 159 3.17 Sadequain, Drawings of Artist and Model, 1966╇ 162 3.18 Sadequain, self-portrait, 1966╇ 163 3.19 Picasso, etching in Vollard Suite, March 31, 1933╇ 164 3.20 Sadequain, illustration and calligraphy of his own verses╇ 167 3.21 Sadequain, painting based on Ghalib’s poetry, 1968╇ 168 3.22 Sadequain, Who Is Sadequain? Khayyam Asks Sarmad, 1970╇ 171 4.1 Rasheed Araeen, Ham Raqs (Dancing Partner), 1959╇ 180 4.2 Rasheed Araeen, Burning Bicycle Tyres, 1959╇ 181 4.3 Rasheed Araeen, Cube as Sculpture, 1966╇ 183 4.4 Rasheed Araeen, Chakras (Waterdiscs), 1969–70╇ 184 4.5 Rasheed Araeen, Paki Bastard, 1977╇ 187 4.6 Rasheed Araeen, drawing on photograph, 1978–79, on cover of Making Myself Visible, 1984╇ 189 4.7 Rasheed Araeen, Ethnic Drawings, 1982╇ 190 4.8 Rasheed Araeen, Narcissus, 1981–83╇ 193 4.9 Naiza Khan in her studio, Karachi, 2005╇ 198 4. Khan, Khatra Khatra (Danger Danger), 2000╇ 199 4. Khan, Henna Hands, 2003╇ 200 4.
Khan, Henna Hands, 2002╇ 201 4. Khan, Henna Hands, 2002╇ 201 4.14 Wall silhouette showing an MQM fighter, Hyderabad╇ 205 4. Khan, Bullet Proof Vest, Body Armour/Lingerie, Chastity Belt, 2006–7╇ 206 4. Khan, Pelvic Armour II, 2008╇ 207 4.1 Hasnat Mehmood, Aisha Khalid, Nusra Latif Qureshi, Saira Wasim, Talha Rathore, and Muhammad Imran Qureshi, Untitled 4, 2003╇ 222 e.2 Bani Abidi, The Ghost of Mohammad Bin Qasim, 2006╇ 225 e.3 Seher Shah, detail of The Concrete Oracles, 2008╇ 226 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments This project has taken a long time to complete, and I have accumulated in- numerable debts, which this note can acknowledge only inadequately.
The Department of History of Art at Cornell has provided a most conducive and supportive environment for working on questions of modernity and mod- ernism beyond their canonical narrowness. I wish to acknowledge my col- leagues Annetta Alexandridis, Judith Bernstock, Maria Fernandez, Cheryl Finley, Claudia Lazzaro, Kaja McGowan, An-yi Pan, Jolene Rickard, and Cynthia Robinson for their warmth and enthusiasm. I especially thank de- partment chair Shirley Samuels, as well as former chairs Salah Hassan and Laura Meixner, for their tremendous encouragement. Rich Keller, Keeley Boerman, and Jessica Smith have offered consistent and timely administra- tive support.
The Cornell South Asia Program has supported my work over the years, and I extend my thanks to the program and especially to affiliated faculty Alaka Basu, Dan Gold, Shelley Feldman, Kaushik Basu, and Neema Kudva. I also thank Durga Bor in administration. The Cornell library system continues to amaze me with the scope of its South Asian collections and its miraculous loan services. I served on the Humanities Council, Society for the Humani- ties, at Cornell University from 2005 to 2008 when Brett de Bary was di- rector, and I acknowledge her unwavering support.
I am grateful to Society Fellows Omri Moses and especially to C. Wan-ling Wee for discussions on theorizing modernism. The Society for the Humanities at Cornell also kindly provided me with a research grant in connection with this book project. Susan Buck-Morss, whose own work is exemplary of engaged and innovative scholarship, has been an enthusiastic supporter of my research.
I extend my thanks to Leslie Adelson, Dominic Boyer, and Douglas Mao for including me in the 2005–6 Cornell Mellon Faculty Seminar, “Culture and Value,” which provided stimulating intellectual exchange. I have also greatly benefited from the lively intellectual environment fostered by the Institute for Comparative Modernities at Cornell since its inception in 2007 and from the unstinting collegiality, support, and advice of my fellow board members, Fouad Makki, Barry Maxwell, Natalie Melas, Viranjini Munasinghe, and Sunn Shelley Wong. And I could not overstate the value of the encouragement and advice of Salah Hassan, Institute for Comparative Modernities director and director of the Cornell Africana Studies and Research Center, who over the years has continually supported my work in numerous ways. Portions of this study were presented at a number of institutions.
For their generous invitations and thoughtful comments, I wish to thank Saloni Mathur, Aamir Mufti, and Sanjay Subrahmanyam at the University of Cali- fornia at Los Angeles; Kamran Asdar Ali at the University of Texas at Austin; Sandria Freitag at Duke University; Lisa Mitchell, Jamal Elias, and Sheetal Majithia at the University of Pennsylvania; Alex Potts, William Glover, and Fa- rina Mir at the University of Michigan; Arindam Dutta, Nasser Rabbat, Sarah Rogers, Prita Meier, and Kristina Van Dyke at a joint Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Harvard symposium; Ruba Kana’an and Zulfikar Hirji at York University, Toronto; Derryl Maclean at Simon Fraser University; and Renata Holod of the University of Pennsylvania at the College Art Association annual conference. My friend and colleague for many years, Kamran Asdar Ali, at the Univer- sity of Texas at Austin, deserves especial mention for his unwavering support and for his own foundational work on South Asia and the Middle East. Zahid Chaudhary at Princeton has been a consistent interlocutor and friend, whom I cannot thank enough. I am deeply grateful to Finbarr Barry Flood at the Institute for Fine Arts at New York University for stimulating conversations and for his inspiring and groundbreaking research.
Saba Mahmood, now at the University of California at Berkeley, encouraged me to pursue the study of non-Western visualities in graduate school, and her dynamic scholarship has been important in my ongoing intellectual formation. Many thanks to Nan and Eric Jorgenson and to Cynthia Ruggerio and Blake Hannaford for enduring friendship. My friends in Pakistan have helped this project in many ways, and I wish to acknowledge artists and faculty Salima Hashmi and Naiza Khan for their tremendous kindness and support. Lala Rukh, by sending me books and by asking me to serve as external examiner for the M.) in Visual Art at the National College of Arts in Lahore, kindly enabled me to keep abreast of emerging scholarship and art practice in Pakistan.
Thanks to Naila Mahmood, Khalid Mahmood, Nadeem Khalid, Samina Mansuri, Zafar Zaidi, Bayar Ma- sood, and Humaira Masood in Karachi and to Anwar Saeed, William Glover, Beate Terfloth, and many other friends in Lahore for their generosity over the years. And thanks to Islamabad-based architect and gallerist Naeem Pasha for his work in developing artistic infrastructures and many careers and for encouraging me to write on Zubeida Agha. Vazira Zamindar at Brown University most generously offered me her re- xii╇Acknowledgments search archive on Sadequain, and her own work on the artist and on parti- tion has been deeply insightful. The help of Cornell graduate students has been invaluable, especially Brinda Kumar’s research assistance.
I gratefully acknowledge the generosity and intelligence of my graduate school fellow travelers Nilanjana Bhattacharjya, Zahid Chaudhary, Sheetal Majithia, Mindy Peden, Saadia Toor, Chi-ming Yang, and Meg Wesling, from whom I have learned a great deal over the years. Alnoor Mitha, of Shisha, in Manchester, has been involved in promoting the work of artists from South Asia for some time, making it possible for artists and scholars to meet. And a special note of thanks for the dynamic team at Green Cardamom in London—especially Hammad Nasar, Anita Dawood, Vipul Sangoi, and Nada Raza—for their sup- port of my work and for their efforts to critically develop the contemporary art of South and West Asia. Elaine Maisner of the University of North Carolina Press has offered exem- plary editorial guidance, and the enthusiasm of series editors Carl Ernst and Bruce Lawrence for this project has been tremendously encouraging.
Project editor Paula Wald has expertly guided this book through production, and Dorothea Anderson’s careful copyediting has been invaluable. The extended comments by the two anonymous reviewers have immeasurably improved this work.