The Bookmark

Book recommendations from NeoNarthaki

Insurgency and the Artist - The Art of the Freedom Struggle in India

Written by Vinay Lal, the book explores Indian artist and printmakers' response to freedom struggle and sheds light on how art invoked their own conception of the nation, their sense of the past, and the contours of the movement for India’s emancipation from the yoke of colonial oppression. It brings to surface the contemporary art related to the freedom struggle and also highlights the work of neglected artists such as Babuji Shilpi, S.L. Parasher, Zainul Abedin, and M.V. Dhurandhar, among others.

Art Attacks: Violence and Offence-Taking in India

Written by Malvika Maheshwari, Art Attacks talks about violence against artists in India. Based on interactions with offence-takers, assailants, and artists, the author puts forward the lack of artistic freedom in the democratic system.

The Earthspinner

Written by Anuradha Roy, The Earthspinner is a fictional novel that takes the reader through the lives of three individuals and their decisions. It reflects the many ways in which the East encounters the West. It breathes new life into ancient myths, giving allegorical shape to the war of fanaticism against reason and the imagination.

Democrats and Dissenters

Written by Ramachandra Guha, its collection of essays on topics of compelling contemporary interest, written with elegance and wit. The book covers a wide range of themes: ranging from national projects of India’s neighbours to political debates within India. Each essay takes up an important topic or an influential intellectual, as a window to explore major political and cultural debates in India and the world.

Bharat Mata: India's Freedom Movement in Popular Art

Written by Erwin Neumayer and Christine Schelberger, This volume is the story of the Indian independence struggle through political prints omnipresent during the period. Erwin Neumayer is an archaeologist and ethnologist and has written on the prehistoric rock art of India. Christine Schelberger is the author of Popular Indian Art: Raja Ravi Varma.

The Freedom Artist

Written by Ben Okri, The Freedom Artist is a plea for justice and examines how freedom is in a post-truth society. A young woman named Amalantis gets arrested for asking a question, ‘Who is the Prisoner?’. Her disappearance had her lover Karnak look for her. This search leads him to terrifying discoveries. Ben Okri won the Booker Prize–winning for his book The Famished Road.