Backing up a bit, though, first, who are Tara? Based in Chennai, South India, they’re a “fiercely independent” publishing house showcasing illustration and writing from various regions and communities. They value “adventurous people around the world”. The feminist principles of dialogue and creating opportunities at the heart of their work are outlined pretty well in this piece over on For Books’ Sake. They want to open your heart and your mind, balancing “the pleasures of a beautiful book with wit and political rigour. Our titles are often unclassifiable, straddling accepted genres. We have pioneered the art of the book made entirely by hand, making artists’ books affordable for the average book lover.”
From the point of view of my illustrating I get particular enjoyment from their picture books, which always teach me new things – when we spoke to Gita Wolf and Sirish Rao about their work with artist Bhajju Shyam on The Flight of the Mermaid a few months ago, I found I was learning about Gond tribal art in the process.
Moving on now to the book in question, which is artist Dulari Devi‘s first book. She paints in the Mahdhubani style popular in the Mithila region of Bihar, eastern India, which you can read more about for starters on Wikipedia here.
I am an artist, but I wasn’t always one. This is the story of how it happened.
– Dulari Devi
This is a gentle, inspiring, true story about the urge to create – and running mildly but persistently through it, Dulari’s struggle to work that process out in a context where art isn’t a career she can economically support, and where education in artistic technique is not easily come by. She learns, in her own words, by doing, and keeping doing. One day after a long day working as a domestic help, she finds herself fashioning a bird from clay, and a journey begins. And for her, the discovery of her own creative power, and through it a new sense of self, is a momentous change. It would be really facile and silly to compare my own life to hers, so I won’t, except to say that I struggle with neurotic “creative block” a lot in my own way – and this reminded me to pull my finger out and get down with the muse again. There’s something very essential and beautiful about the way she describes having the ‘get excited and make things’-epiphany, and I love the cyclical way the text, which is all transcribed from Dulari’s oral account of her life, begins and ends with the affirmation “I am an artist”.
The art is serenely beautiful, full of detail that jumps out at you on a second look. Art Nerd moment: Mithila folk art really appeals to my love of strong line-work. Dulari’s work is high on decorative geometric borders and patterns, and double-lined and crosshatched outlines lifting the figures off the page. If I had kids, I’d read them this. As it is, I was super happy reading it to myself, with lots of pauses to notice all the birds hiding in the trees (I made a mental note to make Markgraf, our resident bird-art enthusiast, look at the birds).
So there’s a pile of reasons why you should keep an eye on Tara (plus the fact their latest graphic novel, Sita’s Ramayana, hits these shores in 2012, but it’s already made the NYT bestsellers). Christmas is coming, after all! Buy your family some beautiful readables.
- Maegan of the wonderful Tara Books sent us this blogpost on Sultana’s Dream – “a feminist parable that inverted the norms of late colonial Bengal.”
- Nancy Upton takes a swing at American Apparel.
- Egypt’s Revolution through the eyes of five women
- Let’s picket the Tory Party Conference on October 2, people! ]]>
You have been emailing us! Demanding to know where the linkposts have gone! AND RIGHTLY SO.
- So, to kick off, Slutwalk London comes to the capital! And the date has been changed to June 11th! Previously on Found Feminism when it marched through Birmingham, now it’s blown up majorly. Oars of all colours have been stuck in. Us? We’ll be there. If you spot us (we’re contemplating a banner), come say hello. We’re a friendly bunch, promise.
- Also on June the 11th, Ladyfest Essex – a one day celebration of women and creativity, with the proceeds going to Refuge. Go to Slutwalk, and then head out to Southend!
- The lovely people at For Books’ Sake will be at Bromley Literary Festival on the 3rd of July. Go along and say hello!
- The also-lovely Maegan from TaraBooks, which we are great fans of talks to the Guardian and says things that are well worth reading.
- TreasuryIslands is a badass blog. (You will already know this if you were reading us a couple of days ago, as writer Libby was guestposting. Scroll down. Read that too. It’s Friday.) Particular favourites: Libby versus teen vampire fiction and the posts on feminist-friendly picture books aimed at boys and at girls.
- Comics writer Kelly-Sue DeConnick is on a mission, and needs your support. Go sponsor her as she raises money for Women for Women International to help women in the Congo.
Have a great weekend!
]]>- Our Viktoriya found this on LiveJournal: Fun picspam post of non-English speaking lead cinematic female characters. Gave us some ideas for the collective DVD wishlist. Vik adds: “Although I’m surprised that there is no Isabelle Adjani in La Reine Margot, no Franka Potente in Run Lola Run, no Sophie Marceau in Les femmes de l’omre/Female Agents, and no Noomi Rapace in Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. (I also think that Lina Leandersson should qualify in Let the Right One In.) And what about the scary, scary Yeong-ae Lee in Lady Vengeance, or Li Gong in Red Sorghum (with bonus stealth!genocide)?” Good points all. To the sale at play.com, at once!
- “We are FiG. We stand for Feminism in General, a new network who embrace feminists from all walks of life, with a view to discussing anything relating to women’s issues and feminism… We are an all inclusive feminist collective, which means we welcome trans feminists, queer feminists, male feminists, feminists of all genders, races, classes and ages.”
Sounds good to us – and they’ve just gotten started, so go check ’em out: Feminism in General.
- “How would you define normal? Is it when you wear shoes on your feet at the mall or eat toast for breakfast? Is it when you’re female and feel like a woman? What happens when you go somewhere else and they don’t even have shoes or toast, or when you’re in a group of people who are female and don’t feel at all like women? What’s Normal Anyway is a webcomic that discusses the trans male experience and aims to add another voice representing a part of the wide spectrum of human diversity. And be funny about it too.” It’s charmingly drawn and well worth a read.
- “Whether or not your story includes the Bechdel scene says absolutely nothing about whether it’s sexist or not. The measure of sexism is whether your story denies women the opportunity to participate in it.” Hathor Legacy issues a wake-up call with The Bechdel Test: It’s Not About Passing .
- Tinchy Stryder’s Game Over gets a Female Takeover courtesy of a collective of female MCs after a rallying cry, issued on Twitter, brought them together. BBC article here, Radio 1Xtra discussion here… and check the track out here. (For comparison, here’s the much-vaunted all-male original remix.) Currently on regular rotation here at BR towers, the track itself makes the editor do a dangerously over-energised dance – listen to the interview; their energy and drive is infectious.
- “Summing up what feminism means has always been a tricky business. Whilst there are formal definitions to be found, ultimately the concept is a fluid one: made real, developed and adapted by those that subscribe to it. So what does it actually mean for a publishing house to be steered by its feminist guiding principles?” India-based publishing house Tara Books tell For Books’ Sake how they do it here.
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