Thousands of people on the streets, a stately elephant leading the way, while scenes atypical of Indian thoroughfares play alongside. To describe the Muharram procession in Old Hyderabad to an outsider would be difficult, but Orijit Sen’s art is nothing if it does not transcend boundaries and complexities. The painting, Muharram, in the graphic artist’s latest exhibition Heart-ich Hyderabadi captures the heart of the city with its loving intimacy and the air of someone who is familiar with its many moods.
The layered canvas finds its roots in the question that the Goa-based Sen often asked himself as a student: why should we study subjects in isolation?
“I hated the fact that we had to study English, Geography or the Sciences separately. Art is a language where multiple subjects can unfold at the same time. History, ecology and culture all progress simultaneously and that is what my art is all about,” says the artist, who is credited with creating India’s first graphic novel, River of Stories, a fictional account of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, in 1994.
In each of the 15 works on display, multiple scenes unfold at a single moment. For example, in Muharram, mourners are immersed in their piety, women look out from their balconies, the streets are full of vehicles, yet there are two men undisturbed by this, settling for a siesta, typical of Hyderabad. In Laad Bazaar, presumably at Eid, the ancient market comes alive to the sights and sounds of shopping while children run on its streets and women haggle with shopkeepers.
The show was conceptualised when Prashant Lahoti, owner of the Kalakriti Gallery in Hyderabad, witnessed Sen’s work on Punjab at India Art Fair in 2015 and invited him to make a series on Hyderabad. Over eight years, the artist visited the city multiple times to get its essence right. The name of the exhibition relies on the idiosyncrasy of the unique language of Hyderabad—Dakhni—which uses the word ich to proclaim proximity. It perhaps also alludes to the fact that Sen, a self-confessed outsider, might be a Hyderabadi at heart. “I grew up all over the country owing to my father’s job, so I gained unique perspectives through the lens of an outsider. But Hyderabad holds a special place as I studied here in the 70s and it was here that I decided to become an artist, encouraged by my teacher, G Yadagiri, of the Hyderabad Public School,” says the 60-year-old, who was also inspired by American cartoonist Art Spiegelman and his iconic graphic novel Maus on Germany and Poland’s Nazi past.
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All of these artworks resemble maps more than paintings. Sen says the works are influenced by his father Arun Sen Gupta, who was a cartographer. The visual quality finds its roots in mapping expeditions during childhood across forests and mountains. “Those lines, dots and dashes spoke to me of the quality of life, colour of trees in the landscape and presence of animals and birds in the terrain. Now, I feel that I have swapped those stories of forests with streets,” says the artist.
Sen’s work is an amalgamation of the many things that make up Hyderabad. Charminar, the beating heart of the city, is reimagined against many backdrops—from Mount Fuji to the Light House of Alexandria and Istanbul. He also captures the city’s other facets, from the winter delicacy of haleem to the vanilla-flavoured Lamsa tea and iconic eateries like the Pista House.
Sen’s work is a documentation of a city famous for its royal past, the characteristics of which are slowly eroding. “There is an increasing homogenisation seeping in. While the old city retains much of its charm, I fail to identify with the newer parts. So, this is a kaleidoscope of Hyderabad, where everything is still interconnected.” And that’s how it remains on the canvas.