Lal Ded’s verses painted on Pashmina: Masood Hussain’s unique art peeks into Kashmir’s soul

Acclaimed Kashmiri artist Masood Hussain has joined hands with textile expert Mujtaba Kadri to hand-paint pashmina shawls with dyes. The exhibition is on till September 20 in Maqam, Rajbagh.

Pashmina shawls have turned into art canvases. On them, the verses of the mystic Lalleshwari, popularly known as Lal Ded and revered by both Kashmiri Muslims and Kashmiri Hindus, have found expression through the paintbrush of celebrated Kashmiri artist Masood Hussain. The dyed motifs on the shawls barely touch; the dyes — at no point — have seeped into one another.

Hussain, in this unique medium pioneered alongside textile artist Mujtaba Kadri, brings to life the lush maximalism of Kashmir’s design traditions and syncretic culture that has shaped the Valley in his latest exhibition, ‘Lal Ded — Vaakhs of Silence’. Currently on display are 20 pieces that have found a perfect home on the top floor of the luxurious Maqam, Kadri’s ornately painted art studio in Rajbagh in uptown Srinagar.



(CREDIT: SHUAIB MASOODI)

“When I first saw a shawl, I was wondering how I would paint on it, because I’m used to paper and acrylic, or watercolours, and this is natural fibre,” Hussain tells The Indian Express. Finding the right colour and tonal variations of each colour, he says, took months.

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