Periyakulam weekly chanda

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Photo Retrospective

“A peasant become fond of his pig and is glad to salt away its pork. What is significant, and is so difficult for the urban stranger to understand, is that the two statements are connected by an and not by a but” – John Berger

Periyakulam chanda / Photography (C) Abul Kalam Azad / 2014

Vettavalam is a Panchayath town in Tiruvannamalai District. Periyakulam Chanda (market) is near Vettavalam, about 19 kms from Tirvannamalai. This is one of the very few active Sunday chandas in Tiruvannamalai District. Variety of cattle, livestock, roosters, pigs, horses, goats, turkeys, rabbits, goose, etc., are arrayed for sales. Hand made equipment, country vegetables, dry fishes, etc., also become part of this chanda. These color market is vibrant with life and activities. The market becomes active quite early. Pork is prepared and served, often times along with alcohol… one can see several men and women sitting in the sideways and eating. In the age of super market and online shopping practices, these kind of places continue to be a social gathering space. More like a festival, during the weekly chanda, people from neighbouring villages come together, share and laugh, sell and buy, and enjoy this ancient practice.

Periyakulam chanda / Photography (C) Abul Kalam Azad / 2014

Not long before, animals were central to the existence of human beings. Not merely as leather and meat, but as an essential force that co-exists. Their entry into the life of humans was phenomenal. More as messengers and keepers of secrets, they communicated and started living alongside human beings. However, things have fast changed and now most of the animals are in zoos, distant and aloof, having been taken away from their natural habitation. In Tamil nadu, the animals continue to be used for many different purposes. Barter system is still prevalent in certain parts of the fast growing Tamil land. In many ways, the animals are still central to the life of these communities. However, this situation will soon change and animals will be forced to play a mere marginal role. And, these animals might even become extinct, as their existential link with human beings is bound to change owing to the technological advancement.

Periyakulam chanda / Photography (C) Abul Kalam Azad / 2014

This series is part of my ongoing photographic project in which I use lo-fi cameras to document the changing rural lifestyle and contemporary culture.

Abul Kalam Azad

3rd November 2014

(C) All rights reserved. All the images published in this blog is copyrighted property of contemporary Indian photographer Abul Kalam Azad. Text transcribed by TSL Nadar. Reprinting / publishing rights reserved by the author and prior permission is required for reproduction / re-publishing, For more information call {0}4175 237405 / {0}94879 56405 or mail to ekalokam@gmail.com / FACEBOOK – Abul Kalam Azad

“Esoteric gods, rituals and sacred symbols of Thirunangais”

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Photo Retrospective

The terms Aravaanis / hijras / third gender describe individuals who are categorized (by their will or by social consensus) as neither man nor woman. Transgender people are called as Aravaani in Tamil and their community is referred as Hijra in India. Tamil Nadu has an estimated population of 40,000 transgender people. In South Asia, most often hijras live in well-defined and organized all-hijra communities, led by a guru. Many work as sex workers for survival. The Aravanis have a strong community fold and have defined understanding of norms and customs. They have developed unique lifestyle, rituals and beliefs and their interaction / exchange with the other communities is very effective and influential. In Tamil Nadu, the aravanis take active part in the film industry. Most hijras live at the margins of society with very low status and go through untoward mental, physical and emotional agonies. Respecting the dignity of the transgender communities, in the year 2008 Tamil Nadu’s civil supplies department recognised them and offered ration cards. This was the first time that authorities anywhere in India have recognised the group. “It’s a move to support these marginalized people. They exist and we cannot ignore them. We have to accept them as third gender,” said social welfare minister Poongothai Aladi Aruna, a gynecologist herself. “We started with ration cards because it was the simplest thing to do. Other documents such as passports and voter identity cards will involve policy decisions of the Centre.” In April 2014, Justice KS Radhakrishnan declared transgender to be the third gender in Indian law, in a case brought by the National Legal Services Authority (Nalsa) against Union of India and others.

Photograph (C) Abul Kalam Azad / Archival pigment prints / 2012

Viluppuram is a Municipality in the Villupuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It serves as the headquarters of the district, the second largest in the state. Koovagam is a very small village in the Ulundurpettai in Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu. Usually this village is like any other village without much activity. It has a very small temple made of stone. The presiding deity is Koothandavar, it would mean, “The God of dance”. The local people offer worship once a day to this God. Few outsiders come to this temple to get rid of their disease. There are no monthly festivals at this temple. But there is a great festival on Chithra Pournami day (full moon that falls during the month of April-May) during which several thousand transgenders (third genders) from all over India participate in the annual gathering which takes place for fifteen days. This festival is dedicated to the presiding deity Koothandavar or Lord Iravan.

Esoteric gods, rituals and sacred symbols of thirunangais – Photograph (C) Abul Kalam Azad

Photograph (C) Abul Kalam Azad / Archival pigment prints / 2012

The reunion of thousands of cult leaders and their members, cross dressers, transgenders and their lovers amidst the crowding / competing agents, clients, devotees, social workers, doctors, police, traders and also the presence of countless perverted / frustrated / aspiring spectators, occur at the open paddy fields adjoining a traditional, conservative farming hamlet. Freely, fearlessly man marries man or man marries a third gender or man marries a Mohini as part of this ritual. The grand celebration of the marriage followed by dance, music, sacrifice, love, sex, ecstasy, sorrow and widowhood is performed in a highly dramatic way.

Photograph (C) Abul Kalam Azad / Archival pigment prints / 2012

This project is my ongoing photo project that I have been working since 2012. I have been using lo-fi cameras and intend to use both analog and digital techniques.

Abul Kalam Azad

31st october 2014

Southern Salt

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Photo Retrospective

Photograph (C) Abul Kalam Azad / Archival Pigment Print / 2012

Salt, also known as sea salt, is a crystalline mineral that is composed primarily of sodium chloride ( NaCl ); a chemical compound, belonging to the larger class of ionic salts. Salt is one of the oldest, most universally, prevalent food seasonings and salting is a necessary method of food preservation. The taste of salt ( saltiness ), is one of the basic human tastes. While people have used canning and artificial refrigeration, to preserve food for the last hundred years or so, salt has been the best-known food preservative, especially for meat, for many thousands of years. A very ancient saltworks operation has been discovered at the Poiana Slatinei archaeological site, next to a salt spring in Lunca, Neam County, Romania. Evidence indicates that Neolithic people of the Precucuteni Culture were boiling the salt-laden spring water through the process of briquetage, to extract the salt as far back as 6050 BC. The harvest of salt from the

surface of Xiechi Lake, near Yuncheng in Shanxi, China, dates back to at least 6000 BC, making it one of the oldest verifiable saltworks. Salt was included among funeral offerings, found in ancient Egyptian tombs, from the third millennium, BC as… were salted birds and salt fish. From about 2800 BC, the Egyptians began exporting salt fish to the Phoenicians, in return for Lebanon cedar glass and the dye Tyrian purple. The Phoenicians traded Egyptian salt fish and salt from North Africa throughout their Mediterranean trade empire. In India, the symbolic act of salt has a different significance due to the ‘salt sathyagraha’. The Salt Satyagraha started on March 12, 1930, with the undertaking of the Dandi Yatra, by Gandhiji and 78 of his followers.

The triggering factor for this movement was the British monopoly of salt trade in India and the imposition of a salt tax. As a result of the contemporary British laws, the sale or production of salt by anyone but the British government was a criminal offense. So, while Salt was readily and freely accessible to laborers in the coastal areas, they were forced to pay money for it. Since Salt is needed by all, irrespective of geography… class/caste, religious beliefs and ethnic backgrounds, Mahatma Gandhi chose it as the focal point for the Satyagraha.

Photograph (C) Abul Kalam Azad / Archival Pigment Print / 2012

I had taken these images along the East Coast Road, also known as State Highway 49, a two lane highway in Tamil Nadu, India, built along the coast of the Bay of Bengal connecting Tamil Nadu’s State capital city Chennai with Cuddalore via Pondicherry. The salt, although an essential ingredient of one’s life, the farmers who produce salt are often exploited. They lead a tough life toiling in the hot sun. These photo sketches were taken during my road trip along the ECR stretch using lo-fi cameras.

Ekalokam collective, a firm set-up to merchandise art in every day life has published a photo-notebook titled ‘Southern Salt

Abul Kalam Azad

29th October 2014

Abandoned

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Photo Retrospective

THE BEATLES IN RISHIKESH

The Beatles in Rishikesh / Image (C) Abul Kalam Azad / Archival Pigment print / 2012

“Imagine”

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today…Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace…

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world…

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

– John Lenon (1971)

The Beatles in Rishikesh / Image (C) Abul Kalam Azad / Archival Pigment print / 2012

In the year 2012, I had taken a road trip to Himalayas and on the way back I went to Rishikesh. The off season rain and cold didn’t stop my explorations. As a lover of Beatles, I wanted to visit the Ashram that the Beatles had stayed. The Beatles visited Rishikesh in India, in February, 1968 to attend an advanced Transcendental Meditation ( TM ) training session, at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Amidst widespread media attention, their stay at the ashram was one of the band’s most productive periods. Their adoption of the Maharishi as their guru is credited by some as changing attitudes in the West about Indian spirituality and encouraging the study of Transcendental Meditation. The Beatles had first met the Maharishi in London in August, 1967 and then attended a seminar in Bangor, Wales. Although this seminar in Wales was planned to be a 10-day session, their stay was cut short by the death of their manager, Brian Epstein. Wanting to learn more, they kept in contact with the Maharishi and planned to attend his ashram in October, but their trip was rescheduled due to other commitments. The Beatles arrived there in February, 1968 along with their partners, girlfriends, assistants and numerous reporters, joining at least 60 other TM students, including musicians, Donovan, Mike Love of the Beach Boys and flautist Paul Horn. While there, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison wrote many songs ( Ringo Starr wrote one ), of which eighteen were later recorded for The Beatles ( White Album ), two for Abbey Road and others for solo works.

The Beatles in Rishikesh / Image (C) Abul Kalam Azad / Archival Pigment print / 2012

One fine morning, during my morning walks, I searched for the ashram and unknowingly, I had to walk more than ten kms. Shivering in the cold, I found the ashram, now abandoned…. I bribed the guard to enter the ashram. It was abandoned in 1997 and is now back under the control of the forest department but the shells of many buildings, meditation cells and lecture halls can still be seen, including Maharishi’s own house and the guest house where the Beatles stayed.. The Maharishi’s compound is across from River Ganga, located in the holy “Valley of the Saints” in the foothills of the Himalayas. The forest undergrowth is what’s left of the original Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram.

The Beatles in Rishikesh / Image (C) Abul Kalam Azad / Archival Pigment print / 2012

Ekalokam collective, a firm set-up to merchandise art in every day life has published a photo-notebook titled ‘the Beatles in Rishikesh’. The Beatles in Rishikesh has been exhibited by Apparao Galleries and United Art Fair II curated by noted photographer and art curator, Ram Rahman.

21st October 2014
Abul Kalam Azad

Magnetic light of the fire mountain

Posted on October 19, 2014 by Photo Retrospective

Photos of the gods

Photos of the gods / Archival pigment prints / 24″x24″ / 2008 – 2010

My first encounter with the Agni Shylam was incidental. Aruncahala hill is considered as one of the important elements ‘fire’. Geologically this hill is dated to be older than Himalayas and theologically Arunachala hill is equivalent to Senai, Machapuchare and other holy hills. Dravidians (nature worshipers) worship the hill and perambulate the 14 km circumference through out the year. The recurrent references to hills, caves, saints, idols, angels, gods, and goddesses during my early childhood religious (Islamic) surrounding made me search for the deeper essence of nature and nature worship. Even though I came here incidentally, I realised that this is a place that celebrates light, an important ingredient for my medium. I was being pulled by the magnetic light of the fire mountain.

Photos of the gods / Archival pigment prints / 24″x24″ / 2008 – 2010

I started observing and visiting the town regularly. For almost twelve years I didn’t take any photographs, I was immersed into the mystical dimension of light. In the year 2011, I moved to Tiruvannamalai. ‘Photo’s of the gods’ is one of the earliest series (12 photographs) that I made in Tiruvannamalai. All the analog images of the ‘Photos of the gods’ series is taken along the 14km girivalam path. Everyday, I encounter these sculptures as mundane objects, but then these are owned and worshiped by millions of people. For me, ‘Photos of the gods’ series is a symbol of Dravidian culture and identity. It is not a philosophy but a dharshanam (visual culture) in Dravidian (pre-vedic / paganistic) society. May be, I am worshiping these forms at my subconscious level or I am using them as contemporary art objects for my art practice. Either way, it makes me feel that I am part of the pre-hindu (vedic) society and I look this images as a parallax of the culture…

Photos of the gods / Archival pigment prints / 24″x24″ / 2008 – 2010

19th October 2014
Abul Kalam Azad

Silence of the scream

Posted on October 18, 2014 by Photo Retrospective

The story of the ‘Book of the Red Hill’

Doodles from photographer Abul Kalam Azad 2010 – 2013 / Book of the Red Hill

The old man with a beard
Was always on time
Sipping tea
And brooding
Looking at the bubbling mass of people
Moving on road.

Sometimes
I noticed more gray
In his beard
May be
Those days were harder on him

Sometimes
I saw a little trace of smile
In those weary eyes

May be
He got a letter from his kids
Or may be
Some long lost love.

Somedays
He was like a cloudy sky
Ready to burst in rain
Anytime

Somedays
I could just feel the feeble sun
Barely there
But there.

The tea
And the old man
Sipped each other
Everyday
And I
Never got to know
The secret…

Doodles from photographer Abul Kalam Azad 2010 – 2013 / Book of the Red Hill

I am not trained to be a painter. I am a successful photographer and have been practicing photography for the last 35 years. I was living in Mattancherry, Cochin until 2010, working, gathering people and organising public art events in my studio ‘Mayalokam’. Although, it was a personal reason that urged me to leave Cochin, I believe metaphorically it was the right time to flow, as Imam Safi says, ‘flowing river is clean; stagnant water is dirty;’ Yes, there is comfort of the family and familiar surroundings, the certainty of material life and the blurred vision of the future… but at some point I had to move on. I called my friend Bawa Chelladurai, noted short story writer and mentioned my need to leave Cochin. He said in a friendly, understanding tone, ‘Comrade come to Tiruvannmalai… we will take care of you!!!’ I fondly recollected my first encounter with the Agni Shylam. Almost 20 years back, I was travelling to Pondicherry by bus. It was still dark. I was awakened by the voice of the conductor yelling, ‘last stop… get down!!’ I got down with my shoulder bag, booked a room and slept through the rest of the night. Morning I woke up to see a hill and wondered how come a mountain in Pondy!!! Too tired to ask anybody, I started walking around the mountain, seeing and feeling the different faces of the place I happened to be. I was inquisitive and the more I explored, the more I felt at home and ease. Since then I have visited Tiruvannamalai several times. Somehow, I was being pulled by the magnetic light of the fire mountain. I moved to Thiru early 2010. I left all my belongings behind including my precious cameras. I took my car Sophia and began my long journey to Tiruvannamalai from my hometown Mattancherry. At Thiru, I mostly spent my time in quiet contemplation, observing the town and the hill. Arunai Tea stall is one of my favourite spots. Sri Ramana Ashram, Yogi Suratkumar Ashram, Kannapan Nayanar temple and many places around Arunachala are the places I frequent. So is the whisky bars where locals hang. As an artist I am always keen on seeing the personalities beneath people’s surface appearances. I bought a small notebook from Ramana Ashram and scribbled the personalities / situations I come across. These life lines became a reservoir of my silent screams. I started sharing these doodles with my friends PP Sha Nawas (Journalist and independent writer) and Tulsi Swarna Lakshmi. I also started posting these images on facebook. Many a friends enjoyed this series and suggested a book. However, a book was never in my mind. After the formation of EtP (Ekalokam Trust for Photography), these images were shared on a regular basis by the office. Sunita Jugran, a young mother, an unknown upcoming poet came across these scribbles /doodles on facebook and started creating verses from these images… she actually found words to my silent screams… . these mundane images of my visual experience of Tiruvannamalai speak louder with Sunita’s poems. Many of my friends started talking about the verses, the strength of her words, its simplicity, and its spiritual dimension.

Doodles from photographer Abul Kalam Azad 2010 – 2013 / Book of the Red Hill

EtP has decided to print limited edition serigraphy books featuring my doodles and Sunita’s poems… The book titled ‘Book of the Red Hill’ will feature 60 doodles and poems. Thank you Sunita, for discovering words for my deep silence.

18th October 2014

Tiruvannamalai

(C) All rights reserved. All the images published in this blog is copyrighted property of contemporary Indian photographer Abul Kalam Azad. Text transcribed by TSL Nadar. Poem (C) Sunita Jugran. Reprinting / publishing rights reserved by the author and prior permission is required for reproduction / re-publishing, For more information call {0}4175 237405 / {0}94879 56405 or mail to ekalokam@gmail.com / FACEBOOK – Abul Kalam Azad

Senti-mental (2005-2010)

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Photo Retrospective

A Kaleidoscope view of life, history and time

Kaleidoscope reminds me of those memorable childhood times… I remember the weekly chandha (market) in my town. An old Muslim fakir used to sell colorful paper covered kaleidoscopes. Almost every week my father had to buy me a new one, as I would have already opened the mysterious kaleidoscope to see what is inside, to know how it works and in the process would have destroyed the kaleidoscope. The joy of looking through those mirrors remained with me like a psychedelic trip…. During early 90s, my experimental photography works included double exposure; scratching on negatives; doodling / painting / needle work on expensive prints; cutting, cropping and manipulating the prints to bring about a Kaleidoscopic view, etc. During 2005, I also had to give way to the growing digital medium and had to start using digital platforms. Using photoshop, I created this body of work titled ‘Senti-mental – a Kaleidoscopic view of life, history and time’. Most of the original analog photographs were taken by me. I also collected / bought quite a few studio portraits from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Those Polaroid images have become a mirror image of that time, space and memory… I worked on this series for about 5 years. These works have not been exhibited so far.

Senti-mental / Photograph (C) Abul Kalam Azad / 60″x 60″/Archival pigment prints 2005-2010

8th October 2014

Tiruvannamalai

Digital Moon and Analog Nights

Art | Time | History

Tag Archives: TSL Nadar

Periyakulam weekly chanda

“Esoteric gods, rituals and sacred symbols of Thirunangais”

Southern Salt

Abandoned

Magnetic light of the fire mountain

Silence of the scream

Senti-mental (2005-2010)