How many of general
public know about Madhubani art, Tanjore paintings? Who can tell what is the
specialty of these art forms? Well…very few will know about it. It is lying
some where in Wiki. The general public cannot be blamed ...the sad part is these
things were neither taught in school nor are we curious to know about our
heritage. The popular Kolam/Rangoli art is also gradually losing its charm with
the fast lifestyle and small restricted living spaces. The daily ritual of
drawing kolam is slowly coming down to drawing them only on festive occasions.
Reality check about Kolams/Rangolis :
- There is no place outside our apartment homes to draw huge Rangolis. End result: the Rangoli sizes are shrinking. From entrance/courtyard these designs are becoming restricted to only prayer rooms
- There is no time for the busy working/homemaker women to wake up early in the morning and spend time leisurely drawing rangolis. End result: We buy those ready-made kundan rangolis /stickers to stick outside our courtyard or better outsource the whole process altogether Outsourced in Madurai Drawing kolams
- The original intent of feeding animals and birds using kolam no longer holds true because we rarely use rice flour (Mav kolam is exception). We use chalk/chalk powder/white rock powder added to naturally/synthetically colored powders.
Let’s look at our
kids (our future generation). How many kids are passionate about these art
forms.....the way we were? This shows the future of our heritage. I am no
different; I am equally guilty of taking our traditions for granted.
What made our 5000 year old traditions survive?
Now coming to
another stream of thought. What made our Indian traditions survive for 5000
years? There were so many invasions, destruction, natural disasters in India; still our rich traditions survived all that. The secret behind this is Adaptation. Our sages and
pioneers adapted to each and every change. The authenticity was maintained but
the medium changed. The teaching/the scriptures remained intact....but medium
of documentation and communication changed.
Our Scriptures were
revived and re-documented in understandable languages again and again by Sages of every era.
- Sage Ved Vyasa gave us Bhagavad Gita that was the core essence of all the Vedas and Upanishads.
- Adi Shankaracharya revived all the Sanskrit texts , lifted us from ritualism and showed the path of Advaita Vedanta.
- Sant Dnyaneshwar, Sant Tukaram , Sant Namdev, Guru Gobind Singh brought the same teachings to local languages.
- Ramana Maharishi and other modern contemporary gurus like Swami Vivekananda, Swami Chinmayananda and others translated the texts and teachings for us from Sanskrit to English.
If we look carefully
the teachings were same but the text (written in palm-leaf) changed to
different mediums like books, DVD, PDF etc. depending upon the present
generation's need. The teachings from the texts were translated from Sanskrit
to other local languages and English so that the present generations can revere
the texts.
Putting Two and Two together
Why is no change
coming to our art forms? I don't mean to say that we should abandon our existing
ways. These ways and methods are precious and they should be treasured. What I am
talking about is supplementing the existing mediums so that our current and future
generations can easily bond to them. Keeping the form authentic, our medium of
expression can be diversified. Today's generation is all into technology. All
of them are tech savvy. To get our kid's (future generation) attention to these
art forms ...Digital art provides a very good medium.
Imagine our kids
seeing these forms of art in notebook covers, mobile cases, Desktop displays , wall hangings,
home decor, video games, Cartoon character's symbols, logos, clothes, social
media headings, Sign boards, TV adds, Animated movies, favorite God's backdrop,
scrapbooks, comics and coloring books, greeting cards....options are limitless.
Imagine how much
integrated to our life, these art forms will become. This will in turn make all
of us feel proud about our heritage.
What is digital art?
(copy and paste from
http://www.digitalartforall.com/15/what-is-digital-art/)
Digital Art can be
defined as any art that is made with the help of a computer.
Drawings made on
paper that are scanned in and changed in any way on the computer, photographs
that are modified, 3D characters created using a computer are all examples of
digital art.
Examples
• Illustration –
vector drawings
• Digital photo
manipulation
• Digital
painting
• 3D modeling
• Web site
design
• Computer generated
images
• Animation
• Games
Digital Art is the next revolution in art
Before the camera,
the role of artists was to depict the real world. Art changed in the way it was
used or the subjects it showed, but each time it was a 'window into the real
world'. When the camera was invented, artists realized that it was no longer important
to portray the real world, and their role could be redefined. They started to
express their imagination in different ways and to show something that is not
real – something abstract. Abstract art can be considered a major step in the
evolution of art and it started with the invention of new technology – the
camera.
With the creation of
the computer and its use in art, we are now looking at the next major step in
the evolution of art. With the use of the computer, artists can create
something that was never possible. The way art is defined itself is changing.
What are some kinds of Digital Art? Where are they
used?
• Graphic illustrations – in advertising,
logos, brochures, posters
• Illustrations - in Books, Comics, web sites
• 3D models – in Animations, Movies, Video
Games
• Digital photo artwork to create posters,
advertisements
• Digital painting
• Web sites
• Computer generated images
• Animations
• Games
Digital Art brings
together Art, Technology, Math and Science.
Digital art requires
a creative spirit and the knowledge of art, design and computers. The digital
artists must be able to move easily between the worlds of art, science, math
and technology.
Final thoughts
I urge all veteran
artists to give consideration to Digital art and promote their artwork in this
type of medium . By doing this
- we can create awareness to present and our future generations
- Prevent these art-forms from losing their pace with today’s fast busy life.
- Adaptation is the key. Welcome the change with open hands.
- Future of all Indian art-forms is in our hands
Enjoy Digital Kolams in my website : Ojasvi Shambhu
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