ShodhKosh: Journal of Visual and Performing ArtsISSN (Online): 2582-7472
Woman printmaker of Bombay School: Shakuntala Kulkarni: Her expressions from restricted spaces to multi mediums and techniques of printmaking Sucheta Ghadge
1 1, 2 Assistant Professor, Department of Design, Banasthali Vidyapith, Rajasthan, India
1. INTRODUCTION Printmaking or
Print is work of art which allows multiple impressions in exact/ identical
forms of the original image. Impressions, pictograms, symbols have played very
important role to give evidence of development of civilization of human being.
General handprints on walls are stamped or airbrushed by mouth to blow pigment.
It appears that there is close relation to the signs and handprints. These
people left handprints, palming them had hopes of reaching beyond spirit. These
impressions, pictures of pre-history show that human beings tend to have equal
influence on where their group lived. Pictorial
multiples have been in wide use since fifteenth century as a means of visual
communication to serve the needs of the church or the monarch. Prints and
illustrations of religious themes are known to have made their beginning in
Europe in the 15th century or earlier. Printmaking was introduced in
India to create printers and Illustrators to develop native narratives and
visual vocabulary. Dhongade (2019) The
Bombay School was founded in March 1857, and Mr. M. Agyer
followed with the opening of Sir J.J. School of Art and Industry which was
named after Sir Jamshetjee Jeejibhoy,
a businessman and philanthropist who gave donation for its endowment. John
Griffiths became the principle of the School in 1865 where Mr. Wilkin Terry
taught drawing and wood engraving. Intrinsic quality of print making then was
carried to expressive art. But Sir Jamshetjee Jeejibhoy always wanted this school to be an industrial
design center for arts. So, it had no tradition in
print making as expressive medium in Bombay school like other schools until
1938. In the decades of 50s and 60s of post-independence, the idea in print
making of Bombay school strongly revolves around Indian modernism in art, and
in 1962 print making subject started in syllabus by support of Vasant Parab
after continuous struggle of graphic art class by Y K Shukla from 1947 in
Bombay school. Religion, culture, language, country, society and economy
changed rapidly during this period. Print making became medium of expression
parallel to drawing and painting but in the art history of visual art and print
making, women artists have been an underrepresented category alongside many
others. Bombay school has
diverse records of the key events, excursions, various communities and castes
who studied here. After Independence if we see Bombay school there have been
remarkable and admirable women print makers i.e. Lalitha Lajmi,
Prafulla Dahanukar, Shakuntala Kulkarni, Durga Kainthola,
Vishakha Apte and many others who remain insufficiently investigated or
appreciated where Bombay was one of the flourished centre economically,
geographically, politically, social and culturally. Indian Print Making Today 1985 (3rd ed.). (2000) This research paper is focusing on to appreciate the excellence of
women print maker Shakuntala Kulkarni and limitations to examine the position
and status of women print maker after independence of Bombay School. Women
printmakers have been an underrepresented category alongside many others. It can help to understand socio-political
status of that period. This research
is highlighting the works of Shakuntala Kulkarni and her contribution as
print maker in print making and how new experiments, digital technology will be
inspirational for young print makers. Qualitative
analysis is used in methodology to understand ideas and experiences of an
artist by taking an interview and through books, news articles, catalogues,
magazines, art journals, published papers. 2. Review of Literature The Catalogue of annual
exhibition of Sir JJ School of Art Roopa-Bheda 160th Annual Art Exhibition2016-17 gives
diverse records of the institute. In this particular issue ‘Feminine
perspectives: Women artists of Sir JJ School of art (1880s to 1970s)’ there is
a reference to women artists, print makers, their career and works written by
Dr. Manisha Patil. ‘Compilation of women artist of Sir JJ School of Art from
1980 to 2002’ is an article written by Abhijit Gondkar
which gives brief about revolution period of this institute. Here in these
articles there is basic information about women printmakers of Bombay school. Kauffimann (1962) The book, Bharatiya Sandharbhatun Streewad, Streewadi Samiksha ani Upayojan
explains the social, cultural, religious, political, economic nature of the
society. Indian women circle around traditions and culture and the traditional
and cultural life is different in every case and caste. In the unpublished thesis, Mumbai ke Cchapachitrakar
ek Adhyayan-2016 by Dr. Ganesh Tartare, there is a detailed study of
Printmaking, Mumbai but there is a brief analysis of women print makers of
Bombay School- their expressions, depiction of different aspects of women
printmakers in print making medium. The book, Bhartiya
Cchapatitra Kala: Aadi se Aadhunik Kaal Tak
traces the development and important aspects of print making from ancient art.
Author has represented and composed theoretical side with practical sense by
his observation, experiences and research on several changes of print making.To address this gap, this research helped to bring
out the role and different aspects of woman print maker by different aspect and expressions in
different mediums and techniques of print making in details. 3. Shakuntala Kulkarni- A print
maker, Multidisciplinary artist Shakuntala
Kulkarni (b. June 22,1950) is a Bombay based artist who completed her art
education from Sir JJ school of art in 1972.Later she studied Mural. She did
2years print making course from MSU Baroda. In Shantiniketan she received
guidance from famous print maker artist Somnath Hore. She has participated
in many group exhibitions throughout the country as well as abroad and many
important workshops. In 1998, she was selected for the prestigious residency at
the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, UK. Her artistic journey started with abstract
painting influenced by American abstract art. She became interested in drawing
and sketching the human figure after her stay at Shantiniketan. Naik (2007) Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
In the beginning
of this stage of drawing and painting she found subjects in the people around
her in daily routine, maids, servants working at home, old couples, retired
people. Shakuntala Kulkarni has done her work with immense and social
structures of society with tradition and religion. Her collaboration and
learning process dissolves socio-economic differences and collectively
readdress the use of medium from etching, aquatint, silkscreen to digital print
with different surfaces. 4. SOCIAL ASPECT IN WORK OF ART THROUGH EXPRESSIONS From
mid-eighties, her work shifted from earlier concerns of human factors to gender
specific issues specifically an enquiry into the lives of urban women and their
spaces like the home as work space as well as cultural and social space within
the society which is basically patriarchal. Even various kinds of violence and
discrimination towards women resulted women constantly experiencing a sense of
fear, oppressive, anxiety, alienation. She has done works on women and explored
issues related to a women mentality, emotions, gender specific issues, the
physical and mental conflicts they had to face, their position in patriarchal
society. Although growing up in liberal family of artists in Mumbai in the
1950's, she did experience certain restriction on woman outside the comfort of
my home. 'Beyond proscenium’ (Fig.4) in 1994 was her first prominent work
focusing women in indoor spaces in which she used steps, platforms railings and
screen to make sense of tension and uneasiness in the viewer. Here to
articulate her message better she staged theatrical performance around the work
to extend mood through movement, sound, rhythm and of course medium of print
making like screen print. Here there is experimentation by incorporating and
burring boundaries of different disciplines and art forms in her art work. Singh (2016) Shakuntala Kulkarni
believes in humanity rather than one nationality or in a particular religion which
turns out to experiment and emerge different things by mixing several styles in
artwork can bring world together. Her art comprises traditional, modern
and symbolic images and creator a different world of emotion. Shakuntala
Kulkarni stands as a feminist voice in Indian art scenario that presents a
range of findings and approaches to materials. 5. USE OF DIFFERENT MEDIUMS AND TECHNIQUES OF PRINT MAKING ACCORDING TO
WORK PROCESS Shakuntala Kulkarni
has addressed some of these issues and the possibility of dealing with them
with the need of rearranging and stretching of visual language. It compelled
her to shift her works from two-dimensional space of painting and printmaking
to three-dimensional sculpture space. She did works on women and explored
issues related to a women mentality, emotions, gender specific issues, the
physical and mental conflicts they had to face, their position in patriarchal
society. Here to articulate her message better she staged theatrical
performance around the work to extend mood through movement, sound, rhythm and
of course medium of print making like screen print. Here there is
experimentation by incorporating and burring boundaries of different disciplines
and art forms in her art work. Figure 5
We can see the
adaptation of technologies has significant impact on artistic practices. By
engaging with computing on variety of levels as medium using it as tool, as
iconography artist find her ways into the domain of print making. For
Shakuntala, the conceptual implications of digital technology inspire ideas.
Here she establishes use of the matrix (color
choices, scale, limitations and distribution) which functions as a translator
of artist generated or defined information whether photographic image or data
sets. 6. Experimentation with Multimedia’s and Collaborations of art and craft Shakuntala Kulkarni’s
family background as in theatre and film/ performing world we can see
performances like moving, exercising dance, ballet and
yoga in her work of art. Even her intimate involvement with the theatre
permitted her the freedom for experimentation with form, time and space
resulted exploration in multimedia installations. Here the work ‘Of Bodies
armour and cages’ (Fig.5) the armour is made by weaving of natural cane. To
make this work she worked with a cane craftsman, weaver from village. One can
observe decorative elements, intricate, swirls in it. For armour work and
exploration of this idea she employed the expertise of natural artisan skills
that one fuses with her urban contemporary thinking. The materials bind and
bends is a vivid social contemporary on the state of women. She has taken
inkjet prints on rag paper of her performances and has limited editions of it. Story of JJ School of Art 1857-1957 (1957) Many relevant
narratives like film, video, drawing, painting and print making that emerges in
her work from artistic thought process and journey. Her multimedia works
include ‘Reduced spaces anonymously yours’, ‘Aajichya
gosti’ (Grandmother’s tales) explored through the
help of yoga and film to understand the space of social / cultural history,
traditions of women with the use of different mediums like fabric, fabric paint
and thread in it. Shakuntala who originally trained in painting, print
making has shifted her work from flat surfaces to sculpture performance, new
media. And if we say about space of exhibiting work or some her performance art
work she had people come up and ask about her work to engage in dialogue with
folks on non-commercial platform for as diverse an audience as possible. Tartare (2016) 7. CONCLUSION Shakuntala’s
works against the backdrop of a growing movement to bridge the gender gap are
timely and on point with a focus powerful expression on unique modes, methods
even process through which she addressed and engage with society, politics,
history, emotions and environment of contemporary times and becoming part of
the global/ international art scene. Multidisciplinary artist
give expressions to different experts in her works and an exploration of
artwork from painting, print making to multimedia and different modes of
surfaces. Here there is experimentation by incorporating and burring boundaries
of different disciplines and art forms in her art work through different
contemporary technologies of print making. The history would certainly register
and note Shakuntala Kulkarni- a women print maker contribution in art world and
become inspiration to young artist as well as art students.
CONFLICT OF INTERESTS None. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS None. REFERENCES Dhongade, A., (2019). Stree ek Bahuroopadarshan. Nagpur: Akanksha Prakashan. Indian Print Making Today 1985 (3rd ed.). (2000). Mumbai, Jehangir Art Gallery Publication. Kauffimann, D., (1962). Graphic Arts and Crafts 2nd edi., New Jersey, New York : D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc, Princton. Naik, S. A. (2007). Bharatiya Sandharbhatun Streewad, Streewadi Samiksha Ani Upayojan. Prabhadevi, Mumbai: Lokvangmaya Griha Publication. Singh, S., (2016). Visvavikhyat Naariyonki Vilakshan Pratibha. Delhi: Pushpanjali Prakashan. Story of JJ School of
Art 1857-1957 (1957), Mumbai : Published for
The Govt. of Maharashtra by Govt. Central Press. Tartare, G., (2016). Mumbai ke Cchapachitrakar ek Adhyayan. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Banasthali Vidyapith, Rajasthan.
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