Nine female artists got together to work over the inspirational lives of 12 Kashmiri women from the past and contemporary times, and created a calendar for 2019 celebrating the legends.
From painting the rebel saint Lal Ded to drawing half-widows using different media, the artists joined hands as ‘Kashmiri Women’s Design Collective’ and created 12 pieces of artwork around the lives of the iconic women of Kashmir.
Each piece is dedicated to one month of the calendar.
The calendar was conceptualised by Sonth Kashmir – a Kashmiri souvenir brand run by Onaiza Drabu and developed in collaboration with Koshur Lifestyle, an online Kashmir merchandise store owned by a Sama Beg, a girl from Anantnag.
“Every year we would see calendars that would have photos of men. Some years ago, there was a calendar that had photos of 10 men and only two women, which was quite upsetting, so we decide to make a calendar and dedicate it to women,” said Onaiza Drabu, an anthropologist.
“I and Sama discussed the idea and then got in touch with some of the finest young female artists of Kashmir and created this artwork. Over 200 calendars have been sold.”
The 28-year-old anthropologist said more than Kashmiris, people from India and some other countries were buying the calendar.
Apart from celebrating the works of iconic Kashmiri women of their era like Lal Ded, Raja Begum, Didda and Habba Khatoon the calendar also interprets contributions of the lesser popular women like Hanifa Chapu and Geyani Mohan Kaur through the dozen art pieces.
The 13th page of the calendar is attribute to the sufferings of women in contemporary Kashmir. It contains a digital illustration of images of three women holding photos of their beloveds.
“The image is intended to shock the viewer, because together with all stories of hope in Kashmir there are many more of resilience in the face of all the odds,” declares the text on the page put together by the artists who worked on the project that include Mahvash Masood, Onaiza Drabu, Nusaiba Khan, Sumairha Choudhary, Tuba Nasiem, Ghazal Qadri, Kayehaan Anjum Khan, Zoya Khan and Sama Beg.
Some of the women legends that feature in the calendar are:
Queen Didda, who ruled Kashmir from 979 to 1003 CE with an iron fist even as she dealt with her disability.
Lal Ded, or Lalleshwari was a 14th century poet, mystic and saint from the outskirts of Srinagar. She is known to be one of the pioneers of Kashmiri mystical poetry and credited with creating a style of poetry knows as ‘Vakhs’.
Habba Khatoon, popularly known as ‘Zoon’, meaning moon was a 16th century mystical poet who greatly influenced Kashmiri poetry and music.
Dr Girija Dhar, prominent gynaecologist was instrumental in establishing the first women’s hospital in Kashmir valley – Lal Ded hospital.
Rupa Rani, a 17th century saint and poet she spent her early life under the religious guidance of her Pandit father.
Giyani Mohan Kaur retired as Headmistress of the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in 1976. She was known for her selflessness and dedicated her life to the uplift and education of women during the time of the partition.