Haku Shah

Haku Shah
Haku Vajubhai Shah (26 March, 1934 – 21 March, 2019) was an Indian painter, Gandhian, cultural anthropologist and author on folk and tribal art and culture. His art belonged to the Baroda Group and his works are considered in the line of artists who brought themes of folk or tribal art to Indian art.
He received several awards including the Padma Shri (1989), the Jawarharlal Nehru Fellowship and the Kala Ratna for his contribution to art.
Early life and education
Haku Vajubhai Shah was born on 26 March 1934, in Valod (now in Surat district, Gujarat) to Vajubhai and Vadanben. His mother was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and it influenced him. He completed his primary and secondary school education in Valod and was an active member of student union. He graduated in Fine Arts (BFA) from The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in 1955, followed by a master's degree in Fine Arts (MFA) from the same university. He worked at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, primarily as a ethnographer. He and Eberhard Fischer (art historian) collaborated on several craft documentation and ethographic research studies. In 1970, Fischer and Shah published the book Rural Craftsmen and their Work at NID.
Career
His work caught the public eye, and by 1965 he had held several one-man shows in Kolkata and Mumbai. In 1968, he curated the 'Unknown India' exhibition, organized by Art Critic Stella Kramrisch at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He received the Rockefeller Grant in the same year and in 1971, the Nehru Fellowship Award.
Over the years, he carried out extensive field research and documentation on rural and tribal arts and crafts, traditions and folk lore. He taught at a Gandhian Ashram in south Gujarat for several years and established a tribal museum at Gujarat Vidyapith in Ahmedabad, which was set up by Mahatma Gandhi. Haku curated the museum for several years, which was to become his last legacy.
His work is deeply influenced by the tribal art and culture, a theme on which he wrote several of his works, and also Bhakti movement, especially its Nirguna poetry. He was also deeply influenced by Gandhian philosophy. In 1980s, he was also instrumental in the foundation of Shilpgram, a crafts village, in Udaipur, Rajasthan.
In 2009, he published his memoirs titled, Manush.
He died on 21 March 2019 in Ahmedabad following cardiac arrest at his home.
Awards
1968: John D. Rockefeller 3rd Fellow, New York, U.S.A.
1971: Nehru Fellowship Award, New Delhi
1973: Civic Award, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation
1975: John D. Rockefeller 3rd Fellow, New York, U.S.A.
1989: Padma Shri, President of India
1991: Regent Professor, California, U.S.A.
1997: Kala Ratna, All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi.
1998: Kala Shiromani, Lalit Kala Akademi, Ahmedabad
2006: Gagan Avani Puraskar, Shantiniketan
Solo exhibitions
1961: Ashok Gallery, Kolkata
1962: Ashok Gallery, Kolkata
1963: Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
1964: Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; Academy of Arts, Kolkata
1967: Chemould Gallery, Mumbai; Private Garden, Delhi
1968: International House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; The Art Scene Today, Chemould Gallery, Mumbai; Asia Foundation Gallery, San Francisco, California
1969: Chemould Gallery, Mumbai; City Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri
1971: Sanskar Kendra, Ahmedabad; Chemould Gallery, Mumbai
1973: Sanskar Kendra, Ahmedabad
1975: Chemould Gallery, Mumbai
1976: Gallery One, New York
1981: Sanskar Kendra, Paldi, Ahmedabad
1984: Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata; Minge Kan, Folk Art Museum, Tokyo
1987: Vikram Art Gallery, Madras
1988: Aressa Gallery, Mumbai
1991: Bade Museum, Berkeley
1993: Art Heritage, New Delhi
1994: Chemould Gallery, Mumbai
1996: Cymroza Gallery, Mumbai
1997: The Village Gallery, New Delhi; India International Centre (IIC), New Delhi; The Gallery, Chennai, Art Indus, New Delhi; Herwitz Art Gallery, Ahmedabad
1998: Durban Art Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa; Lalit Kala Akademi, Chandigarh
1999: All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society, (AIFACS), New Delhi
2000: Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Mumbai
2002: Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
2004: Coomarswamy Hall, Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai; Sarjan Art Gallery, Vadodara
2005: Shridharani Gallery, New Delhi; Cima Gallery, Kolkata; Marvel Art Gallery, Ahmedabad
2007: Time & Space Gallery, Bangalore; Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
2008: Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai; Emami Art, Kolkata; Marvel Art Gallery, Ahmedabad (Nov–Dec 2008)
One-man photographic exhibitions
1982: Sanskar Kendra/National institute of design, Ahmedabad
1992: India International Centre (IIC), New Delhi
1994: Centre For Photography As An Art Form, NCPA, Bombay
2006: Alliance Francaise, Bangalore
Films
1978: "Pithoro, the Tribal God"', Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
1970, "Scraps", made with Yvonne Hannemann
Major projects
1979: Process of Technology, concept and design, Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
1981: Village Vasna, concept/collection and photos, Museum of Mankind, London.
1983: Form and Many Forms of Mother Clay, concept, design, curator and catalogue, Crafts Museum, New Delhi and Mingei International, San Diego, California
1986: The Art of the Adivasis, commissioner, concept and design, in Japan, as part of "Festival of India"
1988: Form Colour and Creativity, curator, concept and design, Crafts Museum, New Delhi.
1989: Shilpa Gram, created permanent village as museum, craft centre, revival of arts and crafts and theatre, concept and design, Udaipur
1990: Shilpa Mela, Arts and Crafts Fair at Ahmedabad, visualizer, designer and consultant, for Handicrafts Corporation, Government of Gujarat.
Children's books
1994: Champa, Hindi, Gujrati, Bengali Published by SAHMAT, New Delhi.
1998, Dharti, Hindi, Gujrati, Published by Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi
1998, Somi, Hindi, Gujrati, Published by Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi
2007, Jeevi aur Jeetu, Published by Vatsal Prakashan, Bikaner.
2007, Goth, Hindi, Published by Vatsal Prakashan, Bikaner.
2007, Manapari, English, Published by Shivshakthi, Bangalore.
Publications
1969: Community Ancestor Worship, (in Gujarati, Hindi and English, Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad. (with Vimal Shah and Ramesh Shroff)
1970: Rural Craftsmen and their work, equipment and techniques in the Mer village of Ratadi in Saurashtra, India. National Institute of Design Ahmedabad (with Eberhard Fischer)
1971: Schlichter Eintrag-Ikat aus Süd-Gujarat, Indien, Die Herstellung von Lendentüchern für die Chaudhri-Stämme in Mandvi durch Khatri-Weber in Tribus Vol. 19:47–69, Linden-Museum, Stuttgart. (with Eberhard Fischer)
1971: Mogra dev, tribal crocodile gods of the Chodhri, Gamit and Vasava tribes, South Gujarat, India. Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad (with Eberhard Fischer)
1972: Kunsttraditionen in Nordindien: Stammeskunst, Volkskunst, klassische Kunst. Museum Rietberg Zürich (with Eberhard Fischer)
1973: Simple weft-ikat from South Gujarat, India. Calico Museum of Textiles, Ahmedebad (with Eberhard Fischer)
1973: Vetra ne khambha, memorials for the dead, wooden figures and memorial slabs of the Chodhri, Gamit and Vasava tribes, South Gujarat, India. Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad (with Eberhard Fischer)
1974: Tatauieren in Kutch, in Ethnologische Zeitschrift Zürich Vol.2:105–129 Völkerkundemuseum Zürich. (with Eberhard Fischer)
1975: Kites flourishing in Ahmedabad, India, in Asian Culture Centre for UNESCO.
1976, Treatment against Ghosts and Spirits, the Bhagtai-ceremony of the Chodhri tribe in Gujarat, in German Scholars on India, vol.2:51–60, Bombay (with Eberhard Fischer)
1978: Folk Myth and Tribal Magic, in Art Heritage exhibition catalogue no.1.
1979: More lights on the Harappan Terracotta Figures, in The Eastern Anthropologist with Suman Pandya)
1980: The ritual paintings of the god Pithora Baba, Zürcher Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, vol. 11: 7–62.
1982: Tempeltücher für die Muttergöttinnen in Indien, Zeremonien, Herstellung und Ikonographie gemalter und gedruckter Stoffbilder aus Gujarat, Museum Rietberg Zürich (with Eberhard Fischer and Jyotindra Jain)
1982: The voice that paints, in Shilpakar, pp. 77–87, Crafts Council of Western India, Bombay.
1984: On Art and Ritual, India International Centre Quarterly, vol. 11, no.4:14–33, New Delhi. (Interview with Geeti Sen)
1985: Form and many Forms of Mother Clay, Contemporary Indian Pottery and Terracotta (with contributions by Pupul Jayakar, C. Sivaramamurti and Stella Kramrisch) exhibition catalogue for the National Crafts Museum, New Delhi.
1985: Votive terracottas of Gujarat , Mapin Publishers, Ahmedabad. (edited by Carmen Kegal)
1985: Gopal, ein indischer Balladensänger zeichnet sein Leben, Jogi Gopal gay chhe, Gopal chitre chhe (German and Gujarati) Peter Hammer Verlag, Wuppertal. (with Barbara and Eberhard Fischer) Gopal singt, Lieder eines indischen Balladensängers und Zeichners, tape and leaflet of songs by Gopal.
1987, Some 19th-century garâs pata or jajmâniî documents of Muslim potters in Kutch, in Verhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft, Basel, vol. 97:103–120, Museum für Völkerkunde Basel. (with Eberhard Fischer)
1991, Mati in Indigenous Visions, India International Centre Quarterly, New Delhi (interview with Geeti Sen)
1992, Teju means radiating light, in Brunner and Vogelsanger edit. Teju zeichnet, aus den Malheften einer indischen Familie (pp. 5–12), Völkerkundemuseum der Universität Zürich.
1992: Contemporary streams of tribal and folk art, exhibition catalogue New South Wales Gallery, Australia.
2009: Manush (memoirs).
See also
Indian pottery
Further reading
Invisible Order: Tribute to Haku Shah, by Eberhard Fischer. Publisher, Art Indus, 1999. .
Vartakaar ki Vaani'' (with Piyush Daiya)
Interview: Haku Shah, by Vandana Sood
References
External links
The Flute Player
A response to Haku Shah's art at The Hindu.
1934 births
2019 deaths
Indian male painters
Scholars from Gujarat
Writers from Ahmedabad
Indian curators
Indian memoirists
Cultural anthropologists
Indian anthropologists
Rockefeller Foundation people
Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts
Gandhians
Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda alumni
People from Surat district
Tribal art
Indian children's writers
Jawaharlal Nehru Fellows
20th-century Indian painters
20th-century Indian non-fiction writers
Indian social sciences writers