The Making of a Modern Indian Artist-Craftsman: Devi Prasad

Devi Prasad was India’s pioneering artist-potter, visionary educationist and pacifist. The event marks the launch of a new book by Naman P. Ahuja (Jawaharlal Nehru University), who will speak about Prasad’s life and work in the context of Indian modernism, arts, crafts and the nationalist movement.

Devi Prasad (1921-2011) joined Santiniketan, India’s premier art school in 1938 when founder Rabindranath Tagore was still involved with the institution. In 1944 he joined Sevagram, Gandhi’s ashram, as Art Teacher, where he taught for nearly twenty years. His political consciousness saw him participate actively in the Quit India Movement in 1942 and in social reforms such as Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan – the land gift movement of the 1940s and 1950s.

Apart from the making of his personal history and his times, this event looks at how Devi Prasad’s story exemplifies the importance of the Arts and Crafts Movement in shaping the nature of Modernism in India, and the role of pottery and the community of studio potters that Prasad set up.

Naman P. Ahuja, Associate Professor of Ancient Indian Art and Architecture at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, will speak about the themes of his new book, The Making of a Modern Indian Artist-Craftsman: Devi Prasad, followed by a conversation with architect Sunand Prasad, Devi Prasad’s son, and with potter and writer, Julian Stair, Visiting Lecturer in Ceramics at the University of Westminster.

The evening is run in partnership with DSC-South Asian Literature Festival http://southasianlitfest.com/programme-2011 and will conclude with a drinks reception hosted by the CREAM Ceramics Research Centre of the University of Westminster.

Booking Essential. Please register for this FREE event by emailing IMC@southasianlitfest.com