Description
Book SynopsisA deep dive into the visual forms, material contexts, social lives, and global circulations of books
In the twenty-first century, debates on the future of books and print culture have intensified with the rise of digital technologies, and the contemporary art world has witnessed an explosion of interest in the book form. Amid this artistic and intellectual activity, there has been little scrutiny of book arts in South Asia and their particular ontologies, histories, and genealogies. This volume weaves together scholarly essays, original artistic projects, and works of creative nonfiction to trace a history of illustrated books in South Asia from 1100 CE to the present.
From Nepalese palm-leaf manuscripts and imperial Mughal albums to lithographed cookbooks and mimeographed magazines, contributors examine a diverse range of materials rarely, if ever, studied together. Thematically organized, the chapters stage a critical dialogue between artists and scholars,
Trade Review
"[An] exciting new publication...The scholarship complicates common understandings of South Asian bookmaking, whose regional practice and access benefited from Indic, Western, Islamic, and cross-cultural influences in the last millennium. Regardless of readers’ existing knowledge about book histories, a compelling essay or an inspiring image will surely pique their interest."
* Hyperallergic *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements
Note on Transliteration and Naming Conventions
Introduction: Love in the Stacks
Sonal Khullar
HOLDING AND CARRYING
1. A Book and the Goddess: The Devimahatmya from Palm Leaf to Paper
Jinah Kim
Artist's Project 1: The Travels of a King
T. Shanaathanan
COVERING AND CAPTIONING
2. Clothing the Book: Texts, Textiles, and an Ethics of Care
Sylvia Houghteling
3. Meaning in the Margins: Kannada Captions in a Deccani Sindbadnama
Laura Weinstein
Artist's Project 2: After the Plague
Parismita Singh
CUTTING AND PASTING
4. Books That Bind: The Persianate Album and Its Widespread Circulation
Yael Rice
5. Migrations of Media: Photographic Albums, Prints, and Wall Paintings
Holly Shaffer
Artist's Project 3: Queen Victoria's Favorite Soup
Naila Mahmood
READING AND RECYCLING
6. Lithographic Assemblages: The Urdu Art Book in the Age of Print
Iftikhar Dadi
7. Books and the Matter of Art: Notes on Materiality, Dematerialization, and Value
Sonal Khullar
Artists' Project 4: Tasavvur (Imagination)
Iftikhar Dadi and Elizabeth Dadi
CRAFTING AND COLLECTING
8. Quink on My Hands
Arvind Krishna Mehrotra
9. In My Father's Trunk
Anand A. Yang
Bibliography
Contributors
Index
