The colonial and national formations of the National College of Arts, Lahore, circa 1870s to 1960s : de-scripting the Archive / Nadeem Omar Tarar.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tarar, Nadeem Omar, author.

Series:

Anthem Studies in South Asian Literature, Aesthetics and Culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

National College of Arts (Pakistan)--History.

National College of Arts (Pakistan).

Arts--Study and teaching (Higher)--Pakistan--History.

Arts.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 238 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

London : Anthem Press, 2022.

Summary:

Lahore's Mayo School of Arts, as the National College of Arts (NCA) was called then, was Pakistan's equivalent of London's South Kensington School of Design (presently Royal College of Art, UK). One of the last of the four colonial art schools established in India, the others being in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, the Mayo School of Arts was founded in 1875 to perpetuate the memory of the Lord Earl of Mayo, the only Indian Viceroy to be murdered while in office. Established by Rudyard Kipling's father Lockwood Kipling, the school had on its staff some of the most renowned names in the Indian art world, such as Ram Singh, Percy Brown, Lionel Heath, S. N. Gupta, B. C. Sanyal and A. R. Chughtai. The Mayo School gave birth to the most celebrated Indian art historical publication in the world, the Journal of Indian Art and Industry. The pioneers of colonial anthropology in Punjab, the fabled 'men on the spot', such as Richard Temple, Denzil Ibbetson and Baden Powell, were associated with the establishment and administration of the Mayo School of Arts. Through its pedagogy, the Mayo School also framed the emergence of the Indo-Saracenic school of architecture and patronized the traditional styles of paintings in Punjab. In the founding decades of Pakistan, to mark the cultural transition from a colonized to an independent national identity, the 'old' Mayo School was reorganized and raised as the National College of Arts in 1958. To reflect its role in developing national culture and imparting professional visual art education, the NCA was established on the model of Bauhaus with three main departments in fine art, design and architecture.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication Page

Contents

List of Figures

Acknowledgments

A Note on Style

Introduction

I. Colonial and Postcolonial Binaries: The Orientalist Tropes of Knowledge

II. Organization of the Book

Chapter One Crafting Artists as Primitive Artisans: Ethnology, Exhibitions and Museums in Colonial Punjab

I. Ibbetson's Ethnography of Occupational Castes and Hereditary Artists as Primitive Artisan

II. Primitive Art in Civilized Places: The Traditional Arts of Punjab

III. The "Exhibitionary Complex" and the British Discovery of Indian Arts

IV. Empire and Exhibition: Outlines of Primitive Aesthetics in Punjab

V. Lahore Museum and the Limits of Museum's Public Pedagogy

Conclusions

Chapter Two The Visual Literacy Orientalism in Punjab: The Mayo School of Art in the Late Nineteenth Century

I. British Orientalist Appraisal of Indian Art Education: Signposts of the Future

II. Art and Intrigue: The Formation of the Mayo School of Art

III. Debating the Curriculum for the Mayo School of Art: A Dissident Note from Calcutta

IV. Disciplining the Hereditary Body of Art: Kipling's Atelier

V. A Suitable Boy from Punjab: Ram Singh's Architectural Innovations

Chapter Three From Hereditary Craftsmanship to Modern Art and Design for Industry: The Mayo School of Art in the Early Twentieth Century

I. Department of Industries in Punjab: A New Beginning for Industrial Art Education

II. Curriculum, Pedagogy and Status of the Mayo School of Art

III. Hereditary Artisans as Artists: The Creation of Modern Art Infrastructure in Punjab

IV. Annual Industrial Art Exhibitions

V. Reforming Craftsmanship to Developing Industry: The Design of Design Department.

VI. Commercial Arts and Graphic Design at the Mayo School of Art: The Lithography Department

Chapter Four Framing of a National Tradition: Aesthetic Modernism and Traditional Art at the NCA

I. Technical Education in Pakistan: A Panacea for Modernization

II. From the Mayo School of Art to the NCA: The Forward-Looking Years

III. The State Sponsorship of Traditional and Modern Art: The Birth of National Art

IV. Shakir Ali: Revisiting the Myth of the Modern Master

V. The Phantom of Bauhaus at the NCA

VI. Eclipsed by Tradition: The Last Hereditary Painter

VII. The Original as Copy: Creative Process in Indian Painting

Epilogue

Notes

Bibliography

Glossary

Index.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 07 Apr 2022).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781785277948

1785277944

9781785277931

1785277936

OCLC:

1511480273