Vrishchik, Year 1. No.7-8

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We are sorry for the irregular publication of Vrishchik, but to compensate the loss we present a double number, including a portfolio of contemporary prints.

As announce~ earlier, plans for publishing collections of poetry in English and translations from Indian languages i. on the way. We also hope to publish a special number on medi ..val Indian poetry translated from Hindi, Marathi . and Gujarati, Soon. Besides collections of poems by Arun Kolatkar, Arvind Mchrotra and late Ravji Patel, a portfolio of drawings by Jeram Patel is also in view, but for all this we need more funds. We hope friends and sympathisers of Vrisbchik will enthUSiastically contribute to help m.treiali ,e these plans.

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VRISHCHIK May-June 1970 Year: I. No. 7-8.

Editors : Gulam Sheikh Bhupen Khakhar 4 R.,ideney BungalolY University Office Compound BarOda 2. Gujarat, Indi •. \

Space donnations in this number: I

2 3 4 5

Bharat Lindner Pvt. Ltd., Baroda.

Dynamo Oilectries, Baroda. lyoti Ltd., Baroda.

Mercury Paints., Bombay.

Chika Ltd., Bombay.

Published by Gulam Sheikh from 4 Residency Bungalow, University office Compound, Baroda-2 and printed by 1'4r5. M. N. \Joglekar at 3-A. Associates, Khari Bao. Baroda .

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We need more th a n powe rful words t o describe th e world we li ve in. Particu larly when it comes to describe the horror of mass murders, whether it takes place in Cambodia,

Vietnam or at home in Ahmedabad or Bhivandi. Whether it is an entire ma rria ge party burnt alive during the communal riots or South Vietnamese pri soners he ld li ke animals in • tiger-cages', stalved , choked and forced to drink th ei r own urine. Nixon-regime ha s extended its men acing hand into th e internal affairs of South-East Asia, against which mass protests ha ve taken place a ll over the world.

Against Communalism After Jalgaon and Bhivandi, the artists and writers community in Delhi , held a uni que meetin g and at a short notice about hundred of them ga thered in the open a ir theatre of the Na ti onal School of Drama, to voice their protest against co mmunali!l:ll1 . Five Speakers (E. Alkazi, Shri Chopra (?) Swaminathan, Nirmal Verma and Shrikant Verma) an d others who joined th em, emphasised the importan ce of an o rga nised .lnd con tinu ous ca mpaign through mass medi a, instead of bringing o ut a resolut ion.

An ad hoc committee of artists, writers a nd ot hers has been formed to discu ss slIch a prog ramm e in wh ich the rest of th e anists and intelligentsia arc inv ited to pa rticipate.

Vri shch ik is ready t l l pa rticipate an d offers the space of its pages wh enever the com mittee d esi re s.

Communalism is a do uble-faced m onster a nd we should not forge t it s oth er face. While Bhi va ndi and Jalgaon return to normalcy, a vast number of refugees from East Pakista n pour into th e st re ets o f Calcutta. These refugees or the so-ca lled minorities of East Bengal, aTC reported to be livin g in most ap pall ing conditions ever. It is time for a ll of us, particularly the muslims of sec ular indi a to come forward and co ndemn the discrimination and a troci ties performed on their fellow brethren by a communal regime.

Communalism exists at vario us levels. Arts and literature too are not free from it. Public personalities like Umashanker Jos hi, th e G yanpith award winner for poetry ( We still wonder how the jury considered him worthier than his co ntemporary Sundaram, a poet of much greater sensitivity, depth and expressi ve power), refused to sign a resolution aga inst comm unalism-along with two other welknown writers-adopted by the participants of the literary co nference held in Simla las t summer.

Communalism also sbows its face in the form discrimination disguised as patronage. Tbe prestigious white elephant of Gujarati literature, Gujarati Sahitya Parishad offers annual a wards for literature in which (of course, there is

provision of a specia l award for the female species who are assumed backward tban tbeir male counterparts) a special award of Rs. 500/- (Kakasabeb Kalelkar Paritoshik) has been installed for the Scheduled Castes. Last year this award was given to no other than one of the most outstanding poets of the younger generation in Gujarat, Adil Mansuri, about whom we still have no clue whether

he belongs to a Scheduled Caste or not. But even if he did, the award has: been granted to him because he belongs to a particular caste or class and not because of his literary merits. Besides, this also shows that his poems were not entitled to compete with the poems written by the members

of privileged communities. We feel sorry, that by accepting the award Adil has invited insult of bis poetry, and encouraged the Parishad to perpetuate a base discrimination. It is more than unfortunate tbat one of the biggest literary bodies of Gujarat shamelessly awards prizes to writers and poets based on totally unliterary criterias. The practice of the Parish ad, thus br .. d, segregation in the 1iterary community and succeeds in

defeating the remotest ideals of literature.

All this has gone unnoticed.

A lot of things go unnoticed

in this part of the world we call Gujarat.

Gujarati writer, be

he

An average

sensitive, talented, young or old is

quite happy sitting unperturbed by such events.

Mansuri comes to mind again.

Adil

Most young writers (his

friends and fellow poets) in GlIjarat know of his importance as a poet. And as the award shows, even the Establishment has, however condescendingly, recognised

his talent officially. Yet, at this time when the poet is undergoing one of the most painful ordea ls of his life, everyone is quiet, indifferent or helpless. The fact that he and his family are forcibly driven out of this country,

has hardly stirred a soul. The stalwarts of Gujarati literature, who , if they want, could convince rhe authorities about the truth behind the matter, and help the poet settle in the country of his choice.

We are bappy to hear ihat painter Swaminathan is moving in the matter to stop the

expUlsion of the poet.

Second Triennale The Indian section of the second Indian Triennale is going to be a hotchpotch affair; we are sure. The decision over th e change of policy in the selection of exhibits sounds conspicuous. The Akademi has decided to select artists instead of art. The established fuddy- duddies whose works were excluded from the last TricnH,lIe seem to have gained an upper hand in the General Counci l of the Akadcrn i.

The Nationa l bo dy o f art lJS it poses to he, ha s eighty percent of non - art ist members o n its co m mittee, has again proved to be a stooge of parties with ves ted interests.

This is evident from th e nam es suggested for th e selection committee of the I ndian section.

When tht'fe is no dirth

or sensitive and intelligent painters and sc ulpt ors and writers on art. the Akademi ha s prepared a list of fiveMulk Raj Anand, Bhabesh Sa nya l, Akbar Padamsee, K. C. S. Panikker, Ashok Mitra- odd peo ple, who a ll seem to be uncomfortable in each o ther's company. These five names are suggested in order of priority, as the selection com mittee wi ll finally consist of three. Out of these five names suggested, two are practicing artist s, [he res t are or have been officials. The interest and invo lvement of these three with contemporary Ind ia n art is peripheral. And out of these three. two of them have had official co nnections with the Akademi (which th ey co nfu se with :Hl). but we are really amazed to read the last namc whosc connection with contemporary art of India is not o nl y remote, but in doubt. We wo nder if many Indian artists have heard of his nam e.

The omnipresent cha irman of the Akadem i reserves his right to be on any committee fo rm ed by the Akademi ; whether on the International jury la st time or the lndian jury this time. It's time he lets ot hers too have an opportunity. The ex-secretary of the Lalit Ka la must in all good spirit rea lise that his ideas and work as a sculptor has nothing in common with the artist of 1970, and retire gracefully. Akbar Padam see's name is sandwiched between all this an d we guess he would refuse to be in th e company of misguided historians and extinct artists ..

K. C. S. Panikker will certainly be the choice if Akbar refuses, who, we don't know how, will manage to deal with these representatives of the establishment.

We wonder what the trio will select for the Triennale.

There'll be all those modern-art wallas and Indianismwallas (Cubism-Expressionism plus Abstractionism cooked up with an Indian accent), there'll be all the generations, the thirties and forti es and fifties and thcir legitimate heirs of the sixt ies. Instead of selecting works of art, they are selecting artists who are entitled to send three works for the consideration of the selection co mmittee, out of which they promise to exhibit at least one. In the oOlcc-rooms of Rabindra Bhavan a list of in vitees will be drawn from the list of award winners at the National exhibitions and from those who have represented India abroad. Thus, the criterias for getting in the Triennale are awards and recognition by tbe Akademi ( beca use in this country, to participate in exhibitions abroad is only possi ble through an invitation of the Akademi ). What about those artists who have none of the above mentioned qualifications?

There is a condescending note that names of five artists can be sugges ted from each 'zone', who too stand a chance of consideration of the selection committee.

But as is obvious from the criterias employed for selection, the awardwaJlas will get priority. And awardwallas of fif,een National exhibitions amou nt to about hundred and forty (some of them have won consecutive awards; could they have a better chance of selection ?) while the entire number of exhibits to be included in the Indian section is about hundred to hundred and twenty!

The division of India in seven different zones has been implemented for the convenience of the selection committee, who are unabl e to visit shabby studios of artists or their ho mes. They'll not travel to Baroda or Ahmedabad as did the seledion committe of the first Triennale. They'd also avoid facing a rtists, in stead prefer to sit comfortably in the offices of the equally ign ora nt zonal representatives to select co ntingent for the International art Tamasha.

M rs. Rauu Mukherjee, must feel proud that she represents a zo ne comprised of about ten different states including Andaman and Nicobar islands and newly formed state of Meghalaya. Poor Shri Radha Krishna has only Madhya Pr~desh as hi s territory. On this side of India Madbav Satwalekar, Director of art, Maharashtra state has been

路 , appointed the zonal representative for Mahara.htr., Gujarat and Goa. He i. allowed to suggeGt five names of artists from three regions, we wonder how will he divide five into three. Amongst the seven zonal representatives only two,

K. C. S. Panikker and R. S. Bisht have some affinity with contemporary Indian art, the rest of the artists have nOI even the fainte st connection with it. And others afC

connected with art affairs by virtue of their habits of sitting in the offices of art, societies and such organisations. If they were honesl enough to do a little soul-search as to how they are connected with contemporary art, they would

have refused their nominations.

But why should they do any soul-search?

Their job is to

run offices. The Akademi!, societies must run , from the

pockets of tax-payers. The connection of art with Akademi is only a formality, to show the government that it fun ctions in the interests of art.

These are signs of degeneration and decadence at its

lowest level.

We feel that the Akademi and its members

( some of them have 'served' on its executive body for three consecutive terms, which means fifteen years-and still do not think of leaving their 'seats') are inviting gradual ruinage of art. If art has to foster in this country, the vintage membe rs of the Akademi should immediately withdraw and let new members get in. Akaclemi should reso/lte Ihat no member should remain ill office for more Ihall one lerm, and if possible fhe (enure q( the IeI'm be reduced to three years. II should c. mSlilllt e of Ihe majority of praclicing lInis/s who. are a lt:are of contemporary trends .

There is no point in lamenting that such demands will bring no change, as the Akademi has not yielded to any such demands made previously. We invite all thinking artists of India to protest against this. Vrishchik would gladly be prepared to launch such a protest on behalf of artists, and invites artists and wdters on art to send their views about the methods to be employed regarding a mass protest.

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On Printmaking (In the last few years, fresh interest has developed in print making in India. This is partly due to the opportunities provided for printmaking, not only in the art schools but by private organisations, like the Group 8 in Delhi and Vision Exchange workshop at Bombay. Recently the Smithsonian lnslitute organised a workshop for Indian printmakers tn New Delhi. After the publication of a special number of Marg, Lalit Kala, the official organ of the national Akademi is also bringing out a special number on printmaking.

Printmaking is no more confined to the studios of privileged few who used to keep a secret (!f fhe 'complex printing techniques'. Now young printmakers possess (or planning fo possess) their own press and feel no more baffled looking at the rrints made by older printmakers. On fhe contrary they too invent new methods and materials for . printmaking. Jagmohan Chopra and members of Group 8 have solved the problem of the high prices of metal plates by replacing it with card-board 'plafes' which produce equally satisfying results.

Amongst the graphic processes Dehing seems to be most pDpular, although important princmakers like Somnath Hare and Jyoti Bhatt etc. have also tried wood-cut and lino-cut. . K. G. Subramanyan exhibited a highly accomplished silk-screen at the last Triennale. The technique of Etching has gone a long way since Y. K. Shukla and a couple of otht'rs made their plates in the traditional mefhod of biting the plate on a single plane and printing the incised line. Kat/wal Krishna and Devyani Krishna employed more methods and made colour prints. But it WllS Krishna Reddy who first introduced the latest methods of printing, his mentor had evolved at Atelier 17 in Paris.

Jagmohan : Graphic situation in India is in a state of confusion at the moment. There's a story behind the development of printmaking in India, or for that matter anywhere else in the world. But there seems to prevail much ignorance about facts. That's why whenever there is a talk about printmaking, various issues are mixed up. Besides there are no criterias for the quality of a print, the distinction between a good and a bad print. And when prints are shown, they are almost blindly picked up and exhibited.

Though most of the art schools had printmaking as_one of the subjects in their curriculum it is only recently that enthusiastic groups of students have taken to printmaking.

Students of Delhi School of art, Madras school of art and of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda show promise. The group 8 of Delhi organises annual exhibitions of printmaking in which most of the we/known and younger print makers participate. The group wonts to expand its activities and circulate the annual exhibit ion in variol.ls art centres of India.

The national or state exhibitions have all these years exhibited prints in a special catagor), and also given awards to outstanding prints, yet general response of painters, sculptors and laymen to print making was of condescending n(f{ure. With more frequenf exhibitions of print making, alld running of workshops the prevelenf . misconcepl ions may change.

Last May Jagmohan Chopra, Zarina , J)"oti Bhatt, Bishall1bhar Khanna, Paul Lingren (of the Smithsonian workshop) and Jeram Patel were in Delhi. They agreed to Vrishchik's proposal to discuss various problems regarding printmaking, be it aesthetic, technical or social. They talked about the quality and value of a print, and about the sensibility of a printmaker. We present a resume of the discussion here.

In the two sessions that took place in the premises of Triveni, along with above mentioned artists, Nasreen Mohmedi and Umesh Verma were also present. - Gulam Sheikh. )

Sheikh : The recent exhibition of Delhi artists organised by the Delhi Kala Parishad (?) showed their exhibits in the most appalling manner.. I saw labels and numbers stuck on the very image of some of the prints.

Jagmohan : Take for example, the prints selected and sent to International exhibitions. Is there any mind behind it? who selects them?

Word 'graphic' represents an attitude, which is different from painting. Painters do not make editions of a painting. For printmaker this is a reality to start witb. But there are different kinds of printmakers, too. Some accept this idea of

making a large number of prints a reality, others restrict the number of prints to few, and there are others who re.ort to mono. print.

Bi,hambllar : There need not be all identical prints, instead the printmaker is at liberty to ma ke several variations of print frum the same plate.

Jagmoban : Yes, one can see the areas of plates in terms of units. Multiple units. He can play with these and find exciting combinations through variations. A variety of results can be achieved from a single plate.

Bi,hambhar : But it should not end in variations only. I mean they should be more than experiments. Not just variations. Each variation must have tbe requirements of a good print. And besides, if variations are very di verse fro m each other, they may lead toJagmohan : You mean to say- they become unique as mono-print s. A rtist's proof and mono-prints have to

be distinguished. .

Bi sham bh"r Like a painter wo uld make a collage ( for experiment?) which opens up immen se possibilities of vC'\riety ('I f co mbinations for him.

Sheikh: A prin tm aker may use different colour in th e va ri ous areas of a plate and in printing, may acqui re

as mony varied res ults as possible. This has its advantages as well as hazards, because here each print po,es a different problem . It won't be easy to call them editi o n~; for editions are th ose in which identical prints from a master plate are taken . You cannot call them mo no-prints, because they are not entirely different or unique from each other.

Bi sham bhar : But why should one think of taking identical prints ?

Jyo ti : I print in many different ways and sometimes call Ihem ~editions of artist's proofs.' I call them editions because even tho ugh they are variations, there is an iden tical image fro m the surface of the pl ate. This fa cilitates a buyer to choose from a variety of prints made from the same plate.

Jagmo han : Blit if you go on making variations like this, there is no end to it. h 's nearly making a new print every li me.

Bi shamb har Why not?

Jagm ohan : But let us not call them editions ; ca ll them variations.

Jyoti : Whether you ca l! th em editions or variations is immateri al. In a va riation what changes is only the colour, the rest remains the sa me. If you see black and white photographs of two ViHiations YO LI will hardly find the difference. Besides, I think, the character of image on the plate is better revealed through variations than thro ugh editi ons.

Sheikh : Suppose yo u reverse the ord er of colours from green to red , yellow to blue. It' ll not only change the intensity of tone but would also considerably transform the image. Here, if a dark figure or area

becomes light, and say darker to a medium grey, the print will ce rtainly change. If you can switch over from colour to colou r and ca ll them editions, it suggests that deep area is not really meant to be dark, it may even not be light, it may be of any colour or lOne. Jagmohan : The plate is one thing; the print is anolher.

The print may presen t something for which thl.! plate Jllay not he made fo r.

Jyoti : What about Japa nese prints? Japan ese blocks are cut in one way and printed in a different way, because Ja panese artist ma y even pailll his block s.

Nolde too, used to paint hi s blocks.

Sheikh : But if we do th is, the cutting of block does not represent the fina l image in print. It means that though the block is the most important object which holds mOot of the details of the print, is only a tool.

Th e print is, what counts.

Bishambhar ; No, the too l is very important. Not only the block but all the other tools employed in printing.

For insta nce, the way ink is applied on the block by rollers.

Sheikh: This leads to another question . Since printmaking involves the li se of a variety of tools and techniques, and deals with a number of stratas of the plate, it leaves room for surprise in the final print. J tend 10 think that printmaking offers surprises at several stages of prin ting. Even though a pai nter too is prepa red for (he surprise of the unfolding of image, a printmaker undergoes more anxiety. He ma y have a plate ready but until it is transferred on paper there is im minence of a surprise- an accident perhaps- happy or otherwise.

Jagmohan : ~o, in the initial stages a printmaker may be tempted to think in these terms. But once he has perfected the technique he realises tbat his print does not rel y on accidental effects and surprises, and for that instance any more than painting, And when variations are made, they are not made for accidental effects, but to tryout maximum possibilities of printing the plate offers.

Zarina : Printmaking does not mean to make more th~n one print, only. Print is made for the quality or' print.

Jyoti : I would say, when an image is transferred from one surface to another (normally on paper) it becomes a print.

Zarina : I believe that one plate has only one solution.

Variations do not interest me.

Variations bring

abollt different solutions.

Iagmohan : I agree that different variations point to different solutions. But I may also add that all these different solutions point to only one ultimate.

Iyoti : [ don't agree. Take for example a painter like Monet. He could paint several versions of Notre Dame, which one you call ultimate? Similarly I Iyoti : Why do we make prints? We know that we can duplicate them. They can also be sold cheaply than pamtmgs. The very idea of making more than one print makes it evident that here you can do something which you cannot do in painting. All this has so much affected my paintings that now T paint like a print maker. I keep on changing mv paintings. But in painting T cannot have records of all the stages.

While in printmaking I can have records of various

states of my mind at diffe rent times, through proofs.

This may souud like a method of trial and error.

So it may be. [t does not worry me. It's like shooting. [f you try to shoot somebody and hit at his head instead of heart it still kills him alright.

Similarly the print does not come out exactly the way you wanted it, it may still be a valid print.

Valid enough to be displayed on wall than going to waste paper basket.

I think the nature of printmaking as a different discipline is also revealed in the process of taking proofs of various stages. This also forms the ethics of this medium.

Bishambhar : Except for mono-print. It has no stages.

Its uniqueness may value more than variations or

editions.

Jagmohan : Besides there is also an optimum stage In printing variations.

Sheikh: It is not just an eternal hit and miss game.

Iagmohan : Yes, after all, how long can you go on printing variations? There is a stage where you stop. You look back to all the variations you've made and cboose one to make editions.

Sheikh: I see that many painters take up to printmaking because of the possibility of getting a variety of prints the plate offers.

Iagmohan : Which is a wrong attitude. A printmaker does not think in these terms. It requires a different way of the working of mind in printmaking. It is not similar or alternative process of painting.

Sheikh: You mean to say that printmaking is not an extension of painting.

try with one image on pJate and print several versions

of it.

Sheikh: There was a mention of graphic sensibility as against the sensibility of a painter. Take for instance Picasso making a print and a printmaker like Hayter doing the same. Picasso may practice painting and printmaking both, Hayter may not. Or for that matter Japanese artists who choose to stick to the

discipline of printmaking only.

Jyoti : Drawing a line on paper and on the plate are not the same thing. There is a difference between a print signed by a painter like Picasso and let us say, Munakata, or Antonio Frasconi

Munakata has

evolved his own method of printmaking, who also paints at the back of the print with brush, yet he is a printmaker nevertheless.

In the case of Picasso,

it is different. He gets his blocks printed by some one else. Or, for example there is a case of Dali, who signed a blank piece of paper before the print was made on it.

Besides, printmaktng is no more

considered a black and white version of painting.

As discussed before, it has its own discipline.

Sheikh: Let me add that it is also not a version in fewer colours, though because of technical difficulties a print may usually have fewer colours than painting.

Zarina : But fewer colours don't make printmaking inferior.

It's on the contrary.

Here the artist gets a free play

of a single element and produces subtle interpretations

of it.

Printmaking has to be accepted a different visual medium, as for instance sculpture. It is a prOC8SS

of digging into the plate.

Jyoti : But let us not make printmaking a purist form of art. When printmaking had its origin as a process of reproduction, why should we feel ashamed of the similarily between a reproduction and a print? The first woodcut blocks were the prototypes of today's photo-engraved blocks, and were used for the same purpose : to reach a greater number of people.

Lingren : A print can be as exacting as a reproduction inspite of the difference of old and ultra-modern methods employed in them. There can be accidents

路.

in the way of processing the print. But it is in the hand of the artist to control them. He may even let accidents take pi(lce and control them to his

advantage.

As for instance T know beforehand,

where 1 am going to have a dark area or wh ite area

T

in my print and if something else happen s in the process ing I try to control it or even make use of it.

Znrinn : But there may be areaS when you would like to tryout. As the whiteness or darkness of th e open and closed surfaces on plates are not the same.

Lingrcn: I trunk you can print the plate in three different \\uys and know the result. A pnntmaker knows hi s job well. Accidents happen in painting as well as in printmaking.

And about Picasso. Let us not run him down as an artist. His lino-cuts are fantastic. But did be choose all the colours? He is a genius, though, perhaps he never made his prints himself.

Jagmohan : Printmaking is not only a pbysical act, but a personal act. And that is what makes the difference.

Jyoti : What about Vasa rely ? His Japanese craftsman cuts and stick s his designs for him.

Jagmohan : Nowadays most of the printmakers in Europe and America leave the printing of the plate to proffessional printers. Picasso is not an exception.

It's a general practice there.

Jyoti : 1 think in thi s there is a difference of attitude. Tt' s personal. A printmaker may choose to give hi s plate to a printer or print it himself- and make more artist's pr oof editions. There are also various types of blocks. I mean Ihe work of different artists demand differen t kind of printing. A Vasa rely can be printed by si lkscreen method by anybody- why shollt '? This idea of the uniquen ess of painting also so u ods outdated to me. 1 have pai nted an old painting of mine again. And why sho uld not I, if I can'! 1 may choose to paint each grain of wood, whlle Zarina may use wood itself to print, but we arrive at a same soluti on through different routes.

It is also 110 t true that one discipline cannot do well with another. Sculptors like Marino Marini, Paolozzi and Bask ine have also proved to be good printmakers, I think a painter or sculptor becomes. a printmakeI' the moment he picks up a plate, And anyway, we have no purist printl11akcrs in the country, yet.

,

Sheikh: It means that we come back to the same conclusion again. The end product is all that of importance. Process is one thing, product another.

It would be wrong to confuse one with the other.

There may be prints where the imprint of the artist's personality will have no meaning, even though it was made by the artist himself. They could have been printed by prolfessional printers as well. lyoti : More than all this, we must discuss about the importance of print in the art world of today, and particularly in India. In India printmaking is considered low or secondary to other disciplines, this view is prevelent not only amongst laymen and buyers but also amongst artIsts.

Zarina : People in general arc indifferent to prints and talk condescendingly about them.

Jyoti : Indian collectors doo't go for prints even though they know that prints are Jess expensive than paintings.

Zorina: But prints should bc bought because they are prints, and not because they arc cheaper.

Sheikh: There is also a prevelent criticism that when print makers meet thcy usually talk about methods and techniques. Eithcr they discuss the quality of ink or paper or thcir presses, painters do not talk about quality of brushes and paint. lagmohan : This is bccause no good inks are available here, nor good papers. One tries out trus and that, and discusses the experiences with the other print maker. It there wcre manufacturers making moresuitable materials for printmaking, such discussions would not take place.

Jyoti : And talking about technique becomes necessary wheo new methods are employed. Even painters talk about techniques, when they see a painting in which new methods are employed. Every body may be curious to know for instance, how Shanti Dave had used blocks on canvas.

But it is true that printmaking In India at the moment is technique-oriented, because of the difficulties a printmaker faces about matrials etc.

The day he becomes vision-oriented there'ill bc discussions on image and vision. Even about techniques and materials. There has bcen much progress in industrial printing sincc many years.

Various ",atcrials like plastiC, vinyl and metals are used in pnnting, and even on thrce~dimensionaJ surfaces. Most artists have no information of these due to lack of interest or communication between Industry and them. If this is established they may open up many other possibilities.

Prints in this number by

Wood-block Zarina IiIlD-cuts

Jagmohan Chopra Allupam Sud Bhupen Khakhar Jeram Patel Vioodray Patel Magan Soma Parmar Gulam Sheikh Purushottam Dhumal

Metal plate

lyoti Bhatt