Fourteenth A.K.Baby Memorial Lecture by Mahalakshmi
Dr.R.Mahalakshmi, Associate Professor at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University delivered the 14th A.K.Baby Memorial Lecture on the topic ‘ The Early South Indian Visual Cultures: Multivocal and Polysemic Traditions’ on 30 September,2015 at TB Ninan Hall, Union Christian College under the aegis of the History Department and . She began the lecture with a brief overview of the visual culture practices of Early India with a discussion ranging from iconography, architectural practices, murals and other lithic and non-lithic visual traditions, methodological and historiographical problems. She also dealt at length with the pertinence of the study of visual culture in the reconstruction of the past and how it enables the historian to address historical issues from multiple perspectives rather than be constrained by the textual tradition alone. One of the most significant methodological questions that was discussed in the lecture was the interaction between textuality and visual culture with Dr.Mahalakshmi arguing that both traditions be given relevance with regard to historical analysis.
Interspersed with questions to students based on the numerous slides from various parts of India ranging from the Sanchi Stupa to Mahabalipuram, the talk was quite successful in engaging with the students and eliciting interest on the rich visual past of South India. Dr.Mahalakshmi also elucidated the methodological problems of the utilization of visual narratives in the study of history and its scope in widening the understanding of the past. A topic that aroused much curiosity among the audience from the topic was on the interconnections of power and its visual representation. Additionally, the questions of patronage, donorship, artisan traditions, regional patterns, gender and of the multiplicity of meanings that certain motifs or elements of iconography hold were discussed in depth. In sum, the talk not only made a strong argument as to the adding of layers and dimensions of meaning to visual culture, both in narration and reception during the course of history, but also made apparent the many voices of the past that they seek to represent and converse with.Some of the questions that were asked by the audience included a discussion on the monolithic rock engraving called as ‘Arjuna’s Penance’ or the ‘Descent of the Ganges’ at Mahabalipuram, the continuity , if any , of the artisanal tradition in specialized artisan villages in Tamil Nadu and the possibility of ‘textless’ visual traditions wherein the history of the sculptor can only be gleaned from the visual material.
The talk was attended by faculty members and students of the department and other institutions like SSUS, Kalady and KE College Mannanam. Dr. NJ Francis was the discussant for the talk and Prof. Annie Jose, Rev. Fr. Thomas John, Dr.Sebastian Joseph and Malavika Binny spoke during the occasion.
