Haku Vajubhai Shah (26 March, 1934 – 21 March, 2019) was an Indian painter,

Gandhian The followers of Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest figure of the Indian independence movement, are called Gandhians. Gandhi's legacy includes a wide range of ideas ranging from his dream of ideal India (or ''Rama Rajya)'', economics, environmentalism, ...

, cultural

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

and author on

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

and

tribal art Tribal art is the visual arts and material culture of indigenous peoples. Also known as non-Western art or ethnographic art, or, controversially, primitive art, Dutton, Denis, Tribal Art'. In Michael Kelly (editor), ''Encyclopedia of Aesthetics. ...

and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

. His art belonged to the

Baroda Group The Baroda Group refers to the artists involved with the Faculty of Fine Arts at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, now known as Vadodara in Gujarat state of India. An experimental art school that drew artists of a variety of backgrounds, the ...

and his works are considered in the line of artists who brought themes of folk or tribal art to Indian art. He received several awards including the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

(1989), the

Jawarharlal Nehru Fellowship The Jawaharlal Nehru Trust Scholarship U.K. was founded by Admiral Lord Mountbatten of Burma in 1966 as a tribute to the India's first Prime Minister – Jawaharlal Nehru – after his death in 1964. The scholarship was funded by the Nehru Me ...

and the Kala Ratna for his contribution to art.

Early life and education

Haku Vajubhai Shah was born on 26 March 1934,Artist Haku Shah dies at 85
/ref> in

Valod Valod is a small town situated midway between Bardoli and Vyara, in Tapi district in India. Valod is located about east of Surat. National Highway 53 The following highways are numbered 53: Cambodia * National Road 53 (Cambodia) Ca ...

(now in

Surat district Surat is a district in the state of Gujarat, India with Surat city as the administrative headquarters of this district. It is surrounded by Bharuch, Narmada (North), Navsari (South) districts and east Tapi district To the west is the Gulf of C ...

, Gujarat) to Vajubhai and Vadanben. His mother was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and it influenced him. He completed his primary and secondary school education in Valod and was an active member of student union. He graduated in Fine Arts (BFA) from The

Maharaja Sayajirao University The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, formerly Baroda College, is a public university in the city of Vadodara, in Gujarat state, India. Originally established as a college in 1881, it became a university in 1949 after the independence of ...

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

in 1955, followed by a master's degree in Fine Arts (MFA) from the same university.Painter, writer, anthropologist, mentor and inspiration to many in many realms of life — Haku Shah is considered an authority on folk and tribal art.

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

, 10 January 2007. He worked at the

National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad The National Institute of Design (NID) is a Public university, public design university in Paldi, Ahmedabad, with extension campuses in Gandhinagar and Bengaluru. Regarded as one of the foremost design schools in Asia as surveyed by ''Bloomberg ...

, primarily as a ethnographer. He and Eberhard Fischer (art historian) collaborated on several craft documentation and ethographic research studies. In 1970, Fischer and Shah published the book Rural Craftsmen and their Work at NID.

Career

His work caught the public eye, and by 1965 he had held several one-man shows in Kolkata and Mumbai. In 1968, he curated the 'Unknown India' exhibition, organized by Art Critic Stella Kramrisch at the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...

. He received the Rockefeller Grant in the same year and in 1971, the Nehru Fellowship Award. Over the years, he carried out extensive field research and documentation on rural and tribal arts and crafts, traditions and folk lore. He taught at a

Ashram in south Gujarat for several years and established a tribal museum at

Gujarat Vidyapith Gujarat Vidyapith is a deemed university in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It was founded in 1920 by Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the Indian independence movement, and deemed a university in 1963. Etymology "Vidyapith," in many languages of ...

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

, which was set up by

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

. Haku curated the museum for several years, which was to become his last legacy. His work is deeply influenced by the tribal art and culture, a theme on which he wrote several of his works, and also

Bhakti ''Bhakti'' ( sa, भक्ति) literally means "attachment, participation, fondness for, homage, faith, love, devotion, worship, purity".See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. It was originally used in Hinduism, referring to d ...

movement, especially its

Nirguna ''Para Brahman'' ( sa, परब्रह्म, translit=parabrahma, translit-std=IAST) in Hindu philosophy is the "Supreme Brahman" that which is beyond all descriptions and conceptualisations. It is described as the formless (in the sense th ...

poetry. He was also deeply influenced by

Gandhian philosophy Gandhism is a body of ideas that describes the inspiration, vision, and the life work of M.K. Gandhi. It is particularly associated with his contributions to the idea of nonviolent resistance, sometimes also called civil resistance. The ter ...

. In 1980s, he was also instrumental in the foundation of Shilpgram, a crafts village, in Udaipur, Rajasthan. In 2009, he published his memoirs titled, ''Manush''. He died on 21 March 2019 in Ahmedabad following cardiac arrest at his home.

Awards

* 1968: John D. Rockefeller 3rd Fellow, New York, U.S.A. * 1971: Nehru Fellowship Award, New Delhi * 1973: Civic Award,

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation The Amdavad Municipal Corporation, or the AMC, established in July 1950 under the Bombay Provincial Corporation Act (1949), is responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city of Ahmedabad. History On 21 April 1831, the ...

* 1975: John D. Rockefeller 3rd Fellow, New York, U.S.A. * 1989:

, President of India * 1991: Regent Professor, California, U.S.A. * 1997: Kala Ratna,

All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society The All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS) is an independent arts organisation in India, founded in Delhi in 1928. In the decade after Indian independence, many of its functions were transferred to three national academies: Lalit Kala A ...

(

AIFACS The All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS) is an independent arts organisation in India, founded in Delhi in 1928. In the decade after Indian independence, many of its functions were transferred to three national academies: Lalit Kala A ...

), New Delhi. * 1998: Kala Shiromani,

Lalit Kala Akademi The Lalit Kala Akademi or National Academy of Art (LKA) is India's national academy of fine arts. It is an autonomous organisation, established in New Delhi in 1954 by Government of India to promote and propagate understanding of Indian art, i ...

, Ahmedabad * 2006: Gagan Avani Puraskar,

Shantiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...

Solo exhibitions

* 1961: Ashok Gallery, Kolkata * 1962: Ashok Gallery, Kolkata * 1963:

Jehangir Art Gallery Jehangir Art Gallery is an art gallery in Mumbai (India). It was founded by Sir Cowasji Jehangir at the urging of K. K. Hebbar and Homi Bhabha. It was built in 1952. Managed by the Committee of Management, the entire cost of this mansion was d ...

, Mumbai * 1964:

, Mumbai; Academy of Arts, Kolkata * 1967: Chemould Gallery, Mumbai; Private Garden, Delhi * 1968: International House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; The Art Scene Today, Chemould Gallery, Mumbai; Asia Foundation Gallery, San Francisco, California * 1969: Chemould Gallery, Mumbai; City Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri * 1971:

Sanskar Kendra Sanskar Kendra is a museum at Ahmedabad, India, designed by the architect Le Corbusier. It is a city museum depicting history, art, culture and architecture of Ahmedabad. Another Patang Kite Museum is there which includes a collection of kites, ...

, Ahmedabad; Chemould Gallery, Mumbai * 1973:

, Ahmedabad * 1975: Chemould Gallery, Mumbai * 1976: Gallery One, New York * 1981:

, Paldi, Ahmedabad * 1984: Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata; Minge Kan, Folk Art Museum, Tokyo * 1987: Vikram Art Gallery, Madras * 1988: Aressa Gallery, Mumbai * 1991: Bade Museum, Berkeley * 1993: Art Heritage, New Delhi * 1994: Chemould Gallery, Mumbai * 1996: Cymroza Gallery, Mumbai * 1997: The Village Gallery, New Delhi;

India International Centre The India International Centre (IIC) is a non-official organisation situated in New Delhi, India. Membership of the IIC includes artists, academicians, senior government officials, judges, jurists, parliamentarians, doctors, ministers, governors ...

(IIC), New Delhi; The Gallery, Chennai, Art Indus, New Delhi; Herwitz Art Gallery, Ahmedabad * 1998: Durban Art Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa;

, Chandigarh * 1999: All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society, (AIFACS), New Delhi * 2000: Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Mumbai * 2002: Visual Art Gallery,

India Habitat Centre The India Habitat Centre is a multipurpose building in the city of New Delhi, India. It was the brain child of the HuDCO Chairman, Santosh Sharma. The India Habitat Centre is one of India's most comprehensive convention centers that is aimed at ...

, New Delhi * 2004: Coomarswamy Hall,

Prince of Wales Museum Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, (CSMVS) originally named Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, is a museum in Mumbai (Bombay) which documents the history of India from prehistoric to modern times. It was founded during Briti ...

, Mumbai; Sarjan Art Gallery, Vadodara * 2005: Shridharani Gallery, New Delhi; Cima Gallery, Kolkata; Marvel Art Gallery, Ahmedabad * 2007: Time & Space Gallery, Bangalore; Visual Art Gallery,

, New Delhi * 2008: Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai; Emami Art, Kolkata; Marvel Art Gallery, Ahmedabad (Nov–Dec 2008)

One-man photographic exhibitions

* 1982:

National institute of design The National Institutes of Design (NIDs) are a group of autonomous public design universities in India, with the primary institute, founded in 1961, in Ahmedabad, with extension campuses in Gandhinagar and Bengaluru. The other NIDs are locat ...

, Ahmedabad * 1992:

(IIC), New Delhi * 1994: Centre For Photography As An Art Form, NCPA, Bombay * 2006:

Alliance Francaise An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

, Bangalore

Films

* 1978: "Pithoro, the Tribal God"',

, New Delhi * 1970, "Scraps", made with Yvonne Hannemann

Major projects

* 1979: Process of Technology, concept and design,

Tropenmuseum The Tropenmuseum ( en, Museum of the Tropics) is an ethnographic museum located in Amsterdam, Netherlands, founded in 1864. One of the largest museums in Amsterdam, the museum accommodates eight permanent exhibitions and an ongoing series of tem ...

, Amsterdam, the Netherlands * 1981: Village Vasna, concept/collection and photos, Museum of Mankind, London. * 1983: Form and Many Forms of Mother Clay, concept, design, curator and catalogue, Crafts Museum, New Delhi and Mingei International, San Diego, California * 1986: The Art of the Adivasis, commissioner, concept and design, in Japan, as part of "Festival of India" * 1988: Form Colour and Creativity, curator, concept and design, Crafts Museum, New Delhi. * 1989: Shilpa Gram, created permanent village as museum, craft centre, revival of arts and crafts and theatre, concept and design, Udaipur * 1990: Shilpa Mela, Arts and Crafts Fair at Ahmedabad, visualizer, designer and consultant, for Handicrafts Corporation, Government of Gujarat.

Children's books

* 1994: ''Champa'', Hindi, Gujrati, Bengali Published by SAHMAT, New Delhi. * 1998, ''Dharti'', Hindi, Gujrati, Published by

Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi is a premier government-funded arts organization in India. It is an autonomous institute under the Union Ministry of Culture (India), Ministry of Culture. History The Indira Ga ...

(

IGNCA Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi is a premier government-funded arts organization in India. It is an autonomous institute under the Union Ministry of Culture. History The Indira Gandhi National centre for arts ...

), New Delhi * 1998, ''Somi'', Hindi, Gujrati, Published by

(

), New Delhi * 2007, ''Jeevi aur Jeetu'', Published by Vatsal Prakashan, Bikaner. * 2007, ''Goth'', Hindi, Published by Vatsal Prakashan, Bikaner. * 2007, ''Manapari'', English, Published by Shivshakthi, Bangalore.

Publications

* 1969: ''Community Ancestor Worship'', (in Gujarati, Hindi and English,

, Ahmedabad. (with Vimal Shah and Ramesh Shroff) * 1970: ''Rural Craftsmen and their work'', equipment and techniques in the Mer village of Ratadi in Saurashtra, India.

National Institute of Design The National Institutes of Design (NIDs) are a group of autonomous public design universities in India, with the primary institute, founded in 1961, in Ahmedabad, with extension campuses in Gandhinagar and Bengaluru. The other NIDs are locat ...

Ahmedabad (with Eberhard Fischer) * 1971: ''Schlichter Eintrag-Ikat aus Süd-Gujarat'', Indien, Die Herstellung von Lendentüchern für die Chaudhri-Stämme in Mandvi durch Khatri-Weber in Tribus Vol. 19:47–69, Linden-Museum, Stuttgart. (with Eberhard Fischer) * 1971: ''Mogra dev'', tribal crocodile gods of the Chodhri, Gamit and Vasava tribes, South Gujarat, India. Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad (with Eberhard Fischer) * 1972: ''Kunsttraditionen in Nordindien'': Stammeskunst, Volkskunst, klassische Kunst.

Museum Rietberg The Rietberg Museum is a museum in Zürich, Switzerland, displaying Asian, African, American and Oceanian art. It is the only art museum focusing on non-European art and design in Switzerland, the third-largest museum in Zürich, and the largest t ...

Zürich (with Eberhard Fischer) * 1973: ''Simple weft-ikat'' from South Gujarat, India. Calico Museum of Textiles, Ahmedebad (with Eberhard Fischer) * 1973: ''Vetra ne khambha'', memorials for the dead, wooden figures and memorial slabs of the Chodhri, Gamit and Vasava tribes, South Gujarat, India. Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad (with Eberhard Fischer) * 1974: ''Tatauieren in Kutch'', in Ethnologische Zeitschrift Zürich Vol.2:105–129 Völkerkundemuseum Zürich. (with Eberhard Fischer) * 1975: ''Kites flourishing'' in Ahmedabad, India, in Asian Culture Centre for UNESCO. * 1976, ''Treatment against Ghosts and Spirits'', the Bhagtai-ceremony of the Chodhri tribe in Gujarat, in German Scholars on India, vol.2:51–60, Bombay (with Eberhard Fischer) * 1978: ''Folk Myth and Tribal Magic'', in Art Heritage exhibition catalogue no.1. * 1979: ''More lights on the Harappan Terracotta Figures'', in The Eastern Anthropologist with Suman Pandya) * 1980: '' The ritual paintings of the god Pithora Baba'', Zürcher Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, vol. 11: 7–62. * 1982: ''Tempeltücher für die Muttergöttinnen in Indien'', Zeremonien, Herstellung und Ikonographie gemalter und gedruckter Stoffbilder aus Gujarat,

Zürich (with Eberhard Fischer and Jyotindra Jain) * 1982: ''The voice that paints'', in Shilpakar, pp. 77–87, Crafts Council of Western India, Bombay. * 1984: ''On Art and Ritual'',

Quarterly, vol. 11, no.4:14–33, New Delhi. (Interview with Geeti Sen) * 1985: ''Form and many Forms of Mother Clay, Contemporary Indian Pottery and Terracotta (with contributions by Pupul Jayakar, C. Sivaramamurti and Stella Kramrisch) exhibition catalogue for the National Crafts Museum, New Delhi. * 1985: ''Votive terracottas of Gujarat'' , Mapin Publishers, Ahmedabad. (edited by Carmen Kegal) * 1985: ''Gopal'', ein indischer Balladensänger zeichnet sein Leben, Jogi Gopal gay chhe, Gopal chitre chhe (German and Gujarati) Peter Hammer Verlag, Wuppertal. (with Barbara and Eberhard Fischer) Gopal singt, Lieder eines indischen Balladensängers und Zeichners, tape and leaflet of songs by Gopal. * 1987, Some 19th-century garâs pata or jajmâniî documents of Muslim potters in Kutch, in Verhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft, Basel, vol. 97:103–120, Museum für Völkerkunde Basel. (with Eberhard Fischer) * 1991, ''Mati in Indigenous Visions'', India International Centre Quarterly, New Delhi (interview with Geeti Sen) * 1992, ''Teju'' means radiating light, in Brunner and Vogelsanger edit. Teju zeichnet, aus den Malheften einer indischen Familie (pp. 5–12), Völkerkundemuseum der Universität Zürich. * 1992: ''Contemporary streams of tribal and folk art'', exhibition catalogue New South Wales Gallery, Australia. * 2009: ''Manush'' (memoirs).

References

External links

*
''The Flute Player''

at

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Haku 1934 births 2019 deaths Indian male painters Scholars from Gujarat Writers from Ahmedabad Indian curators Indian memoirists Cultural anthropologists Indian anthropologists Rockefeller Foundation people Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Gandhians Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda alumni People from Surat district Tribal art Indian children's writers Jawaharlal Nehru Fellows 20th-century Indian painters 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers Indian social sciences writers