Lalla Ded’s poetry, Pashmina and Sozni converge at Srinagar’s MAQAM exhibition

Exhibition at Rajbagh’s new cultural space brings together Masood Hussain’s paintings, Sozni embroidery and interpretations of Lalla Ded’s poetry

Srinagar, Sept. 21: An exhibition featuring renowned artist Masood Hussain’s visual interpretations of the poetry and spiritual legacy of 14th-century Kashmiri mystic Lalla Ded concluded at MAQAM in Srinagar’s Rajbagh area on Sunday, with an engaging conversation exploring art, traditional craftsmanship and Kashmir’s cultural heritage.

Located opposite the Convent School near the Jhelum riverside and footbridge, MAQAM hosted the exhibition, which opened on September 7 and featured at least 20 works inspired by Lalla Ded, also known as Lal Eshwar and Lal Arifa.

The exhibition brought together paintings on Pashmina with intricate Sozni embroidery, creating a distinctive dialogue between contemporary visual art and Kashmir’s traditional craftsmanship.

Visitors appreciated the manner in which Hussain’s artistic language brought the timeless world of Lalla Ded into a contemporary visual context.

Film screening and closing conversation

A film by Masood Hussain, Whispers of Silence, was screened during the closing programme. The film documented the processes and creative journey involved in producing the exhibited works, offering viewers a glimpse into the painstaking artistic and craft techniques behind the collection.

The highlight of the programme was a conversation between Masood Hussain and Salim Beg of INTACH. The discussion explored the ideas, inspirations, experimentation and artistic processes that shaped the collection, extending beyond the individual artworks to examine their connection with Kashmir’s cultural heritage.

The conversation also reflected on the continuing relevance of Lalla Ded and the possibilities of interpreting Kashmir’s cultural memory through contemporary art while remaining connected to traditional forms.

The programme concluded with a question-and-answer session, bringing together art, craft, history, poetry and cultural memory.

The initiative combines Masood Hussain’s artistic vision, Mujtaba Qadri’s craft expertise and Avtar Mota’s translations to bring Lalla Ded’s 14th-century vaakhs to Pashmina canvas.

From poetry to Pashmina canvas

Speaking to Greater Kashmir earlier on September 15, during the exhibition’s inauguration, Masood Hussain said his engagement with Lalla Ded began unexpectedly through his work with Irish writer Gabriel Rosenstock, who was writing haiku on Mahatma Gandhi.

“My engagement with Lal Ded was coincidence. I came across Irish writer Gabriel Rosenstock, who was writing haiku on Mahatma Gandhi. He asked me to illustrate those haiku. That inspired me to explore how poetry could be translated into visual art. The book was published in Ireland and became quite popular,” Hussain said.

Hussain, who had previously worked extensively on the theme of turmoil in Kashmir, said his artistic focus shifted while working with Rosenstock on the devotional mystic poet and saint Kabir.

“Having lived in Kashmir throughout that period, I could not distance myself from it,” he said, referring to his earlier work on turmoil.

“The shift happened while working with Rosenstock on the devotional mystic poet and saint, Kabir. I made more than 30 paintings on Kabir. So when a fellow Kashmiri, Mujtaba Qadri, came up with the idea of painting on Pashmina shawls, I thought that if I could work on Kabir, why not take Kashmir as a subject? And Lal Ded came to mind immediately,” he said.

Hussain studied around 300 vaakhs of Lalla Ded and selected 20 for visual interpretation.

“I conceived a visual interpretation for each of those 20 vaakhs and completed the designs at Mujtaba’s studio in Delhi. There, I also learnt the process of working with dyes. The entire project took us two and a half years,” he told Greater Kashmir.

Explaining his choice of Pashmina as the medium, Hussain said the fibre’s global recognition could help introduce Lalla Ded’s legacy to younger generations.

“Pashmina fibre is known across the world, and capturing Lal Ded through visual art can help introduce her to younger generations,” he said.