Visual culture in South Asia: Hindu nationalist greeting cards

I blogged earlier about the fellowships at Tasveer Ghar, so it's only fair I point again to a new feature on their Web site: user-contributed galleries and essays re: art, technology, and visual culture.

The first, by Christiane Brosius, is "Celebrating More Than the New Year: The Hindu Nationalist Greeting Cards." A concise essay accompanies eight images of cards, primarily by the artist B. Highly recommended.

For information on applying for the fellowship (last date to submit? April 30! Hurry!), go here.

Don't mix drink with drive

According to this Web site, the Mumbai Traffic Police have started disseminating these coasters (at left), which are printed with a type of red ink that only appears when wet.

Thus: Order a frosty beer; enjoy the mug, glistening sweat; finish draught; admire mugshots of people with what appear to be head wounds.

It's gruesome, shocking, tasteless, and a little bit fantastic. I love it when art and technology collide, particularly in such a public forum.

That said, I have absolutely no idea of the back story for this; when S and I were in Mumbai, we certainly didn't notice any of these while we were quaffing innumerable pints. There's also little buzz about drunk driving in recent media, so the catalyzing event for this macabre exhibition will remain a mystery for me.

Found: in Mumbai's Chor Bazaar

These images are all from books found in Mumbai's Chor Bazaar, purchased for Rs 200 (for the lot). The etching is a reproduction of a Piranesi -- whoever that is -- and there are four hand-tinted postcards from Brussels by an anonymous artist. My favorite, hands down, however, is the illustration of Marguerite Dufay, from a compendium of French posters. The face! The breath of roses at her nipped waist! The errant trombone! The possibility that Marguerite was originally a Marcus!

More of the same at my Flickr pool for art; mind you, skip over those crappy collage images, which I do for fun on weekends.