Daak Weekly: Art as a Portal to the Divine
Friedrich Nietzsche, the renowned German philosopher once wrote, "That for which we find words is something that is already dead in our hearts. There is always a kind of contempt in the act of speaking." Perhaps, Nietzsche was suggesting that our deepest emotions are best felt, free from the constrains of language; attempting to describe or explain them might dilute their essence. By extension, writing, rather than clarifying, might also efface our innermost feelings and experiences. And when the idea or experience is as vast as the divine, language perhaps will always fall short.
In contrast, art, with its limitless, wordless possibilities, offers a truer path for exploring life's esoteric mysteries. Biren De, a visionary artist, led his audience beyond the physical limits of sight into the realms of the unknown. Through his canvas, he explored the subliminal, the mystical, and even the divine using tantric symbols such as the lotus and the wheel. His paintings are characterized by vivid colors and a central luminosity, defining the hallmarks of what came to be known as the "Neo-Tantric" style.
Another remarkable artist was Sayed Haidar Raza, better known as S. H. Raza (1922–2016), one of the founders of the Progressive Artists’ Group in Bombay. In the 1970s and 80s, he turned his artistic focus inward, exploring an inner spiritual landscape deeply rooted in the ethos of his homeland. He moved away from figurative art towards lines and circles, embracing the bindi, a Sanskrit term meaning a point or dot. Raza considered the most significant form to be the point, stating, “[t]he Bindu symbolises the seed, bearing the potential of all life.”
While words may often fall short in expressing the entirety of our questions and experiences, art remains a powerful medium for transcending these limitations. De and Raza demonstrate how, through art — silent yet resonant — we can navigate the mystical and spiritual, reaching beyond the ordinary confines of speech.
Love,
Team Daak
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