‘The moving finger writes and having writ moves on, Nor all thy piety nor wit, Shall lure it back to cancel half a line, Nor all they tears wash a word of it.’  – Omar Khayyam

Calligraphy has been used in many ancient cultures through the ages emerging from Islamic thought. It was used extensively as an ornamental device in Islamic architecture as well as in the illustration of Bibles in early Christian Byzantine art. While it is said to have originated with the Sumerians, Persia, Japan, China, India, Nepal, Korea, Tibet and the whole of East Asia had a long and flourishing calligraphic tradition. Wang Xizhi, a great Chinese calligrapher was even dubbed the ‘Sage of Calligraphy.’ Ono no Michikaze, Fujiwara no Sukemasa and Fujiwara no Yukinari hailed from Japan and were popularly heralded as the ‘skin, flesh and bones’ of Japanese calligraphy. The Kashgar Lotus Sutra is a famous example of a Buddhist manuscript dating back to the middle of the first millennium AD which bears a striking similarity to large lettered Chinese calligraphy.

The art form travelled with the sultans to India where it was incorporated into miniatures, finding especial importance under the reign of Shah Jahan. The Taj Mahal being the most widely known example of Islamic calligraphy used as an architectural element and verses from the Quran cover the walls of the Jama Masjid. Naji was a famed poet and calligrapher who lived during the reign of Aurangzeb and his elegant Persian inscriptions feature in the Mosque of Sayyid Muhammad in Ajmer where they are inlaid with black stones into the white marble floor. Many of the Mughal emperors were learned in the calligraphic arts, Jehangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb, to name a few. Emperor Aurangzeb earned money for his tomb by working as a calligrapher. In this way calligraphy became an integral part of the artistic language of the subcontinent, transitioning from writing on the page to become a significant component of Islamic architecture. It was an almost divine practice; calligraphers went into a deep trancelike meditative state as they worked.

Calligraphy could be called a ‘tool of the divine,’ used as it was to inscribe the word of God in intricately illuminated manuscripts of the Bible, as well. This tradition reached as far back as the Christian Byzantine Empire. The Book of Kells, circa 800 AD, an illuminated gospel and stunning work of Celtic art is considered the pinnacle of the Christian calligraphic arts tradition. The artwork is remarkably elaborate, an exemplary example of early Irish calligraphy and includes the four gospels of the Bibles in Latin. Therefore, the West had a long history of calligraphy that continued to thrive even after the invention of the printing press. In the early 1400s, German publisher and printer, Johannes Gutenberg ushered in the print revolution in Europe with the printing of the Gutenberg Bible. He took great pains to ensure to cast the metal types in keeping with the artistic traditions laid down by calligraphers. The result was print that maintained the beauty and detailed precision of the calligrapher’s art.

Delhi  based  Aiyana  Gunjan,  is  a  contemporary  Indian  artist  who  is  using  calligraphy  as  a  primary  tool  of  self  expression.  Much like the Iranian artist in exile, Shirin Neshat, Aiyana Gunjan too, uses calligraphy to investigate and contextualize a number of core, personal issues. Aiyana has been investigating the self, the personal, to arrive at truths about the pluralism of Indian culture. The calligraphic multimedia works are an exploration in innovation as she marries calligraphy to various new mediums – photography, glass printing, pastels, water colours – in the quest for her identity and to evoke universal themes about spirituality, the self,  and  her  own  art  practice. Using ink, brush and nib each work is a result of deep introspection, that lead her fingers to move over paper, canvas, photographs, over and over and over, layering each thought as in a palimpsest.

With  globalisation  and  the  opening up  of the  markets  contemporary  Indian  art  practice  is  imbued  with  an  unusual  vibrancy  and  innovation.   Indian  visual  artists,  are  using  a  variety  of  mediums,  and  working   more  in  a  conceptual  manner,  increasingly  rooted  in  an  Indian  tradition,  calligraphy  too  in  the  form  of  text  and  image  production  of  art  is  well  established.  The  traditional  Indian  miniature  painting  tradition  is  one of  the finest  examples of  this  genre.  However Aiyana  Gunjan  is  taking  the  pen  and  ink,  and  the  nib  to  another  level.  Painting,  photography,  mono printing  are  her  secondary  layer,  calligraphy  being  the  most  potent  layer.  And  this  is  what  makes  Aiyana’s  language.

The  Moving  Finger  Series  is  Aiyana’s  exploration  of  pure  calligraphy,  working  in  a  monochromatic  black  and  white  series.  While  the  suite  of  37  jewel  like  works  titled  the  Sangam  series,  has  a  seamless  fluidity  between  the nib,  the  digital  photo  and  the  flow of  consciousness.  The  colourful  set of  mono  prints  are  a play  between  the process of  printmaking  and  the  pen.  Size  and  forms  both in  representation and  paper  add  another  dimension  to  Aiyana’s  art  works.  From  single  frames  to  diptychs,  tiptychs and   larger  canvases  alter  the  nature  of  the  calligraphic  artistic  manifestation.  Transforming  the  art  of  calligraphy  from  religious  into  non  religious  spaces,  to  a more  secular, artistic   and  personal  space  is  evident  in the  oeuvre  of  AIyana  Gunjan .

Modern artists using calligraphy in a fine art practice have found it an exciting and mutable medium. Tsang Tsou Choi, a graffiti artist from Hong Kong who dedicated half a century to covering the streets with calligraphy. He was the first from the city who had the honour of being invited to the Venice Biennale. Xu Bing, a Chinese born artist, invented a system of characters that look like Chinese calligraphy but are, in fact, unreadable, challenging accepted ideas of language, calligraphy and their use. This innovativeness, is something that I felt resonates with the spirit of invention layered into Aiyana’s art.

Australian artists, too, have found a great affinity for calligraphy weaving it into their artwork. Of these Stanislaus Rapotec and Ian Fairweather are the most notable. Rapotec’s artwork used calligraphy to create works imbued with spirituality, reflection and harmony, while Fairweather’s brush with calligraphy influenced his drawing which, in turn influenced his painting. Both have experimented much in the same vein as Aiyana, whose art displays similar traits.

Libyan painter Ali Omar Ermes, infuses his work with calligraphy as he believes it gives him the freedom to express much more. His own personal beliefs, his interest in literature, poetry, texture, form and colour as well as his training as a photographer come together in a truly distinctive style, but a style that seems to mirror many elements of Aiyana’s own artistic path. What is interesting to note is that Aiyana Gunjan chose her medium of calligraphy with care.

Aiyana’s beginnings are rooted in the field of economics; she earned a BA in the subject, going on to also earn a degree in Masters of Business Economics. While she devoted eighteen years of her life to working as a Brand and Semiotics Consultant she has always felt a strong connection to the arts. Her interests spanned disciplines as she trained under eminent gurus – Shobha Broota in painting, Anis Siddiqui in calligraphy and Subrata De in sitar and Indian Classical Music. This crisscrossing has had a profound effect on her artworks, bringing in an intra-disciplinary approach to her artistic practice, in addition to an idealised innovativeness (from her time spent working in the advertising world) as well as a profound sense of spirituality stemming from her deep thirst to learn more about the human condition which establishes Aiyana Gunjan’s singular vocabulary, too.

Not being trained in the academy has worked to her advantage. Unfettered by the formality of a structured education, Aiyana Gunjan has educated herself and used self-knowledge to open her mind and her heart to the universe,  to  sacred  and  personal  spaces.  It  is  this trajectory  of  thought, philosophy  of  transience  which  is  fuelling  Aiyana  Gunjan’s  language  of  art.

By Dr. Alka Pande

Curator

Autum 2015