Art Talkies

To understand middle eastern art or architecture, first thing is to identify what we can call middle eastern regions. Although various controversy exists about the boundaries of middle east, it mostly covers the following regions: Arabian Peninsula, Levant, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Persian Gulf, North Africa. Middle east include region like Egypt (north Africa), Iraq (Mesopotamia), Palestine (Levant) and many other significant zones that are considered as a hub of art and architecture and had significant hold on culture and diversity over changing centuries. Middle Eastern art and architecture are significant due to their cultural preservation, religious and spiritual expression, global influence, technological advancements, artistic innovation, and their role in facilitating cross-cultural exchanges. They play a vital role in shaping our understanding of history, aesthetics, and the artistic achievements of the Middle East and beyond. For example, the built of th

Miniature as the name suggests are small-scale, highly detailed paintings. They trace back to at least 9th century CE, and are living tradition with many contemporary artists still pursuing the art form. Miniature art is an intense labour of love illustrated on a range of materials like palm leaves, paper, wood, marble, ivory panels and even cloth. The common themes of these paintings are mythological and religious texts though it differs from every artist. One of the outstanding features of these paintings is the intricate brushwork which contributes to their unique identity. The colours used in these paintings are derived from various natural sources like vegetables, indigo, precious stones, silver and even gold.  Miniature paintings originated in India around 750 A.D. when Palas ruled over the eastern part of India. Since religious teachings of Buddha, accompanied by his images, were written on palm leaves, these paintings became popular. These paintings originated not a

MF Hussain, The Picasso of India, is known for executing bold and vibrant coloured narrative paintings in a modified cubist style. Although he courted both fame and stirred controversy for his erotic portrayal of Hindu deities and "Bharat Mata", he was one of the most celebrated and internationally recognised artist of the 20th century. His premature association with the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group mainly focused on using modern technique which was inspired by the 'New India' after the partition of 1947. His narratives executed in a modified cubist style, can be caustic and hysterical as well as significant and sombre. His themes sometimes treated in a series included diverse topics like Gandhi, Mother Teresa, The Ramayana, The Mahabharata, The British Raj and motifs of Indian urban and rural life. His painting titled "voices" got auctioned for a record of $2.5 million in September 2020. In 1967, he received the National Film Award for Best Experim

Art is not essential until its not. A simple yet very powerful emotion. An emotion that can turn wars into revolution, depressions into thoughts and the abstract into visible. All these suggest one simple thing and that is, art ,in itself has the capability to survive despite the fragility of time. And for something that has eternalised itself, it is obvious that it has been marked with criticism but emerged above the shallow boundaries of stereotypes. Going in depth of breaking the stereotypes, artists have portrayed their art as a platform to express themselves. Its always a persons’ depth that brings forwards a splash of newness over the orthodoxia of society and such part had been played by artist all over the world at different ages and times.  For example , female artists such as Frida Kahlo, Mary Cassatt, and Georgia O'Keeffe challenged gender stereotypes by creating powerful works of art that gave out the idea of women being phenomenal and not merely an subject

When I first visited the Taj Mahal I was a little kid. But the impeccable Jaali works and the arabesque designs on the white marble are still etched on my mind. Little did I know that the Jaali works and the arabesque designs, the geometric patterns, and the calligraphy of non-living things that seem so awe-inspiring to us, are actually an influence of a religion’s very own style of art and architecture. It has religious implications too. For example, since Islam doesn’t endorse idol worship, the designs on Islamic structures lack human or animal figurines, they are mostly dominated by calligraphy ( so popular now in design fonts, illustrations, and Instagram reels, it was actually a discovery of the Persian/Islamic world and brought to India with the Islamic rulers), Arabesque designs which are nothing but vegetal designs of continuous stems, all connected at a same point bearing flowers, and geometric designs ( geometry was an invention of the Arab world, so we can expect

Ancient art mediums refer to the materials and techniques used by artists in the past to create works of art. These mediums can range from painting and sculpture to pottery and jewelry. Ancient art mediums have been used for thousands of years and have been an vital branches of many cultures. One of the most popular ancient art mediums is painting. Paintings were often used to tell stories or to depict religious or spiritual themes. People used a variety of painting techniques, including tempera, fresco, and encaustic.  Sculpture is another popular ancient art medium. Sculptures were used to represent gods, goddesses, and other important figures in ancient cultures. Some used stone and wood to create sculptures, while the others and Romans used marble and bronze. Sculptures were often used to decorate temples and other public spaces. Pottery is another ancient art medium that has been used for thousands of years. Pottery was used to create vessels fo