Tag Archives: Women Muslim Artists of India

The Brigade That Builds Brands: Maryam Hasan Ahmad’s take on crafting an Artsy Army life on the move

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Women/Girls(since May26-2021), , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

HARYANA / INDIA :

We’re back with another interview from the ‘The Brigade That Builds Brands‘ series. It’s all about fauji wives / military spouses, who make work work for them through multiple postings, back-to-back social commitments, spotty internet connections, long stints of single parenting, community mindset regarding how military spouses should or should not work and a lot more. Today, I’m talking to Maryam Hasan Ahmad about how she juggles her life as a brush-wielding artist and as a wife of a man in boots ‘n’ beret – an Army officer. 

A talented illustrator and artist, she didn’t give up her work to fit into the fauji life, but instead, carved out a freelance career that she could pack and take along to the multiple postings across the country and world. I hope that this interview will get you revved up to create a freelance career around your passions too.

C. Please tell us something about yourself – what do you do, where are you based and how long have you been a fauji wife.

M. I am a freelance illustrator of children’s books, fashion and portraits/caricatures. I am, as of now, based out of Haryana and have been wedded to the Olive Green for 15 years.

C. What has been your business or creative journey been like: how & when did you start your venture?

M. I am an Applied Arts Graduate and have been freelancing in illustrations since college, and then did a 2 year stint in Chennai as an animator in a French Animation studio. Those two years were a big learning curve. But all that came to a standstill after getting married and being sent to obscure places where there were absolutely no job avenues. Internet was a blessing that got me hooked onto online freelancing while following my husband around the world. Now I could work from any corner and have clients from all over the world!! This opened up a whole new world for me and my dreams. Our 2 year tenure in New York was another time of personal and professional growth. I started my blog https://homespunaround.blogspot.in/ there, attended a lot of arty lectures and seminars… learnt studio pottery. Participated in a couple of pop up fairs and started selling my handmade products online.

C. Fauji wives make their home in an assortment of obscure places across the country. Our lives are about living in the moment and doing what we can, when we can. Can you share how you stayed creative or found work that satisfied you while moving across the country?

M. Fauj teaches you a lot of things (especially if you are creatively inclined and willing to learn). There are so many courses being conducted all over the stations which at least tell you the basics of art, craft, painting, decoupage etc etc. and now with the smart phones and internet at your fingertips, trying out something new is not rocket science. There are so many websites that cater to freelancers, whether you are a writer or an artist or a software professional or even if you want to sell your hand-made wares… Staying creative, finding you mojo is not difficult these days as long as you have a decent internet connection and the passion.

C. How do you juggle that load of social commitments & welfare activities that are an integral part of the fauji community, while nurturing your passions and meeting work deadlines?

M. Time management. If you let it, Fauji commitments can take over your life and as your husband moves up in the ranks and gets busy… you get busier. And there are so many commitments and obligations that you just can’t say no to. Here time management comes in handy. If you have a pending assignment, or a client getting jumpy for not getting work on time- you have to learn to prioritize. 

You can leave the cleaning of the cupboard for tomorrow, send the client that work now. Tell people that this and this is the time that you need to work, and would appreciate being left alone then. (It’s a little hard for people to get it, but insist). Decide what time works for you, put it your maximum then, with no distractions of Facebook scrolling, checking emails then.

C. As a creative/entrepreneur + fauji wife, is there something that you cherish very much about being part of this community? And is there something you feel must/can change for the better?

M. See each world has its pros and cons. I love being a fauji wife. I love the clean environment, the fantastic and SAFE cantonment life that we expose our kids too.  The quality of life when you compare with our civilian counterparts is way better. (I know a lot might disagree) but tell me where can your kids go out every evening without a care in the world, cycle, play basketball, squash, tennis, golf, swimming and come back when its dark…. And you are NOT worried. You are not the one ferrying them from one sports coaching to another. I have friends whose kids stay at home and play videogames because there is not playground in their vicinity and if its is, you cannot let them go alone! It’s not safe. So either you tag along, or you let them stay in.

We all have a fantastic social life as faujis; we work hard, but we party harder! We learn to get along with everyone (esp. relevant in unit life)… we grow as individuals, posting to posting, place to place. I think I have made lifelong friends at every station that I have been posted to.

Things to change? Hmmmm…. When I compare what was prevalent in my mother in law’s time to what is now happening in my time… fauj has changed. And evolved with time. But it needs to evolve more. It needs to understand the requirements of the extremely well educated, articulate young brides coming in with professional backgrounds. Their requirements, expectations are way different and our organization needs to listen to them.

C. What challenges have you faced in balancing work and fauji life?

M. You know there are times and places/stations that are more busy than others. During my husband’s command, my freelance work took a backseat. My pottery was forgotten (in fact still is) and my life as a CO’s wife took over. I didn’t resent that, because the station/ tenure was such and I needed to do that for my husband/unit. After command, I started freelancing again, but after a year I have got posted to another really busy station where my work has taken a backseat again. Lot of good projects were lost because I could not deliver. So yes, it does get frustrating and one has to come to terms with it, deal with it. Take out your frustration on the ever-willing husband and then make the most of what you can get and carry on regardless.

C. What tips would you give to fauji wives out there who’d like to pursue their dreams while living at small and busy bases (many still believe or led to believe that you can either be a fauji wife or a professional, and that’s not true)?

M. The world is your oyster. You are qualified and ambitious, don’t let your ambitions die out, just modify them a bit to the life that you have now. You might not work at the dream job that you planned on while you were studying, but on hindsight you will realize that you got a better deal. Try out other avenues and see what works. It’s not always necessary that as an Army wife you can only become a teacher. With the internet seeping into even the remotest of corners of the country, see what can work for you online. 

Don’t get disheartened, instead think of it as an opportunity to try out something different… something you might not have thought of before. Network with fellow army wives, forge partnerships and alliances and you never know just what might work.

C. A parting quote or philosophy that helps you stay calm and do what you do?

M . Don’t let go of your dreams. Hold on to them tight…. Plan, dream and dream some more. And work towards your dreams. Slowly and steadily you will get there.

Here’s where you can see more of Maryam’s work:

Maryam’s Art Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/Maryams-Art-Studio-184891738239097

Instagram feed:

https://www.instagram.com/maryams_art_studio

Looking for inspiration to work-from-home or set up your own venture as a fauji wife? Check out our interviews of fauji wife entrepreneurs and articles on working-from-home.

Subscribe to our blog posts to stay tuned (bonus: you’ll also receive a free book on Everyday Sari Style). / If you’re on Facebook, Like us at chandana banerjee – online notebook / On Twitter? Follow me @chandanawriter / And if living green and well is on your to-do list, hop over to Gorgeous Girls Go Green (our sister site).

source: http://www.chandanabanerjee.com / Chandana Banerjee / Home / 12th June, 2018

Rummana Hussain and the ghost of female Muslim heroes

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Karnataka (under research project), Museums, Libraries (wef. April 16th, 2022), Women/Girls(since May26-2021), World Opinion, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bengaluru, KARNATAKA / New York, U.S.A / Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA :

Rummana Hussain’s conceptual artistic imprint on the state of India is relevant now more than ever. Dealing in the currency of feminist expression, postcolonial thought and perennial ideas, Rummana’s India is both doubly colourful and doubly dark.

In an inaugural show in its new West Village location, New York’s Institute of Arab and Islamic Art presents The Tomb of Begum Hazrat Mahal an exhibition encapsulating Rummana Hussain’s artistic ruminations about the space our bodies occupy in present and past through one of India’s most prominent Muslim woman.

Bangalore-born Rummana Hussain (1952-1999) was a pioneer in conceptual and performance-based political art in India during the 1980s and 1990s.

She was part of the Sahmat collective, a platform for liberal, secular engagés multidisciplinary artists including Safdar Hashmi, Bharti Kher, and Manjeet Bawa among others.

In this recreation of The Tomb of Begum Hazrat Mahal (1997), the respectful visitor enters a one-room shrine.

“In seeing The Tomb of Begum Hazrat Mahal today, I remembered Hussain’s bold feminist reclamation of her Muslim body through the reincarnated aura of Begum Hazrat Mahal to question monolithic identity, national narratives, and systemic marginalisation”

Various objects signify a site of lamentation, pride, and remembrance.

On the floor, occupying a central location, 12 votive-like papaya halves sit atop a mattress of uncooked rice, evoking both an altar to womanhood and fertility, and a symbolic funerary pyre.

In front of them stands an installation of offerings comprising amulets, dried roses, shells, and incense sticks, tied in a rope.  

Against the three other walls is a calligraphic sculpture from rusty metal that reminds of a sacred spell and the embodiment of time, and an image frieze of detailed black and white triumphant photographs showing a woman’s arms, wrists, and hands.

In one of these frames, a woman raises her fist up as if calling others to join in. In another, she holds an ominous knife. Images of flames are interjected between the simulacra of archives.

Rummana Hussain, Tomb of Begum Hazrat Mahal (Detail) 1997 © Estate of Rummana Hussain. Image Courtesy Talwar Gallery

The room is devoted to a woman, an invisible physical body which radiates from each of the static objects. Begum Hazrat Mahal (1820-1879), née Muhammadi Khanum, was born into a poor family.

She was sold and entered the royal harem of art-loving Wajid Ali Shah, the last king of Awadh, a kingdom that occupied the area of the present-day northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Trained as a harem attendant, she would eventually rise to become the king’s concubine – one of his favourites. Beyond her charms, Begum Hazrat Mahal owes her entrance on the historical stage foremost to her political prowess and courage.

The British-owned East India Company operated in Awadh since the early 19th century. The Company increased its grip in 1856, when it directly seized control of Awadh, citing poor governance and the need to uphold the rule of law to justify their annexation (an excuse known as the “Doctrine of Lapse”).

A Chief Commissioner was rapidly appointed. This caused the king to leave Lucknow and seek refuge in Calcutta. The Queen Mother of Awadh petitioned Queen Victoria in person for her son’s rights, in vain. Wives, including Begum Hazrat Mahal were left behind in occupied Lucknow.

Rummana Hussain, Tomb of Begum Hazrat Mahal (Detail) 1997 © Estate of Rummana Hussain. Image Courtesy Talwar Gallery

After this brutal annexation, discontent grew in several parts of India against the British and the interference of the Company, culminating in a mutiny and revolt in May 1857. Rebels looked to Awadh’s Crown Prince as a successor to his absent father when they captured Lucknow.

But Birjis Qadr, the son of Begum Hazrat Mahal and Wajid Ali Shah, was still a child then, too young to assume power. In his stead, Begum Hazrat Mahal took over Awadh’s revolutionary affairs, actively leading the armed revolt during her regency, towards the reinstatement of Indian rule over Awadh in July 1857.

She continued resisting British rule well after the retaking of Awadh by the occupying troops in 1858, as she refused various offers of collaboration. She died in exile in Kathmandu, Nepal, as an unwavering freedom fighter. Today, a humble stele near Kathmandu’s Jama Masjid marks her tomb.

Rummana Hussain, Living on the Margins, 1995, performance at the National Centre for Performing Arts, Mumbai

When Rummana Hussain first showed The Tomb of Begum Hazrat Mahal to the public in 1997, it was during a period marked by the tragic aftermath of inter-communal violence.

During the 1980s, radical Hindu nationalists campaigned to build a temple on the site believed to be the birthplace of Rama, where a mosque had been erected since the 16th century.

They took to the streets of Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, en masse in 1992. Security lost control of the crowd which eventually stormed into the site, demolishing the mosque.

This ignited weeks of violent clashes between Hindu and Muslim communities, causing the deaths of thousands. A later investigation on the destruction of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya pointed out the responsibility of leaders and supporters of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the political party of India’s incumbent Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

Babri Masjid launched a turning point in Hussain’s artistic journey towards a more intimate, politically-conscious form of expression. In Dissected Projection (1993), she explored the multilayered meaning of ruins and dislocation through an allegorical work that exposes a fracture, a shattered piece of terracotta.

In her show Multiples and Fragments (1994), Hussain engaged with historical and domestic oppression in an installation of pigmented pieces of fabric on a clothesline, to denounce the colonial extraction of indigo in India and unpaid housework traditionally performed by women and girls. Labour is always physical and violence first hurts the most vulnerable.

In her 1995 performance Living on the Margins, Hussain screamed while holding papaya halves, shapes that represent a universal vessel and the female anatomy.

Her works have been exhibited in the India Pavilion of the Venice Biennale in 2019, and in multiple institutions across India, Canada, Australia, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States during her lifetime and posthumously.

In seeing The Tomb of Begum Hazrat Mahal today, I remembered Hussain’s bold feminist reclamation of her Muslim body through the reincarnated aura of Begum Hazrat Mahal to question monolithic identity, national narratives, and systemic marginalisation. She wanted to say, we can turn the hate in love, we can turn the oppressed, the victims, into heroes they will one day celebrate. We can tell our own stories. They matter.

Outside, scores of brunch-goers live, love, laugh. If it’s dissonance we are meant to acknowledge, I acknowledge it. I closed my eyes in the silent white cube of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Art and saw images of the relentless violence and bullying Muslim women continue to face in Narendra Modi’s India.

In this reconstituted tomb, it’s hard to feel alone. Around me swarmed many other ghosts, of ordinary Muslim women – from Afghanistan to Iran and beyond – crushed and slain in their contemporary defence of freedom and justice against oppressors. Many have been killed in their fight.

A shrine calls for a quiet prayer, I realised.

Farah Abdessamad is a New York City-based essayist/critic, from France and Tunisia.

Follow her on Twitter: @farahstlouis

source: http://www.newarab.com / The New Arab / Home> Features>Culture / by Farah Abdessamad / December 08th, 2022