TASAVVUR (IMAGINATION)

2023

Artist Project published in Old Stacks, New Leaves: The Arts of the Book in South Asia, ed. Sonal Khullar (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2023), 251–57.

Titles are drawn from poetic phrases:

jhooti aas ki chatri talay = under the umbrella of false hope (Kishwar Naheed)

gardab ki gardish = revolution of the vortex (Sauda)

shokhi-i nazzara = exubrance of the spectacle (Iqbal)

shehr-i bala = city of affliction (Rais Amrohvi)

tiltsm-i gumbad-i gardun = the sky’s magic dome (Iqbal)

kaif-i istirab = ecstasy of restlessness (Majaz)

From the 1950s through the 1980s, book covers for Urdu literary works in India and Pakistan featured strong graphic elements, saturated color, bold abstraction, and surreal imagery. They incorporate art nouveau frames, neo-Orientalist graphics, lyrical and geometric forms, abstract layouts, psychedelic patterns, and post-cubist figuration.

These are often combined with “pop” calligraphy registering the book’s title and the author’s name. Tasavvur playfully restages this aesthetic and creates layouts for imaginary publications. Evoking an era before digital screens, it invites a dizzying and immersive encounter with the book as a graphic medium.