{"id":1717,"date":"2020-05-12T12:30:21","date_gmt":"2020-05-12T12:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/?p=1717"},"modified":"2020-05-15T07:43:30","modified_gmt":"2020-05-15T07:43:30","slug":"from-dynamic-to-dying-the-history-of-calendar-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/2020\/05\/12\/from-dynamic-to-dying-the-history-of-calendar-art\/","title":{"rendered":"From Dynamic to Dying: The History of Calendar Art"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

By Arushi Kapoor<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In this rapidly changing world of technology and development, a lot of traditional\nutilitarian items, art forms, etc. are gradually vanishing from our daily lives. Some of\nthese like calendars, tape recorders, etc. which once used to be an important part of\nevery household in terms of both utility and reflecting social status, are now getting\nlost in the hustle of modernising our lifestyles. For most of the generation of youth\nwhich grew up in the 90s, calendars were one of those elements in home which\nwere always taken for granted and are now only acquired by antiquarians or used\nonly in small towns or cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In India, calendar art gained popularity with the initiative of Raja Ravi Verma, the father of\nmodern art (also calendar art) in India. He pioneered the setting up of one of the\nearliest lithographic presses in India. Verma perfected the western models of\nrepresentation and popularised the images of Gods and Goddesses which he\nrendered so real. As calendars became affordable for the general population, the\n\nprinters diversified their themes over the period of time accordingly to maintain\nrelevance in society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As the freedom movement gained momentum, allegory and imagery related to freedom\nsymbols and the idea of an independent Indian nation was universalised all over the\ncountry through calendars. This significantly impacted in bringing a sense of\nnationalism and cultural integrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calendars also became a social symbol and marker of a person\u2019s\/family\u2019s religious\naffiliation or faith and belief system. The late nineteenth and early twentieth\ncentury saw a sudden surge in the culture of popular images like those of Hindu\nGods and Goddesses, mythological tales, portraits of nationalist leaders and\nlandscapes being created by the artists. As the country became independent and the\npath of unity in diversity was being paved, calendar printing presses further\nexpanded their scope. Besides the Hindus, all kinds of myths, folk culture and\nstories pertaining to various religions were represented. This also contributed in\nfamiliarising the umbrella structure of a religious faith in the far corners of the\ncountry, as a certain kind of representation gained acceptance in people\u2019s minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, in colonial and post-colonial India, devotional aesthetics rapidly dominated the\npolitical level so that the nation was first and foremost evoked in allegory. This\nbecame a prominent political tool to gather masses. The boundaries between the\nsacred and political merged into each other as the nation was represented in\nreligious terms. The calendars etched the symbolism of Mother India, cow as\nrepresentation of nation, etc. into the minds of masses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, as India advanced and stepped into the globalised world, new calendar themes\nwere introduced. On one hand was the attempt to preserve the culture and\ntherefore types of folk dances, folk festivals, popular places, sceneries gathered\nfrom across India were printed on calendars. On the other end, there were huge\ncompanies which introduced calendars promoting and advertising their own\nproducts. Models were employed by companies like Kingfisher, Suzuki, etc. to make\nthem more appealing to the public. Calendars were distributed to employees by\nboth private and public sector institutions, and thus still making its way into almost\nevery household.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Calendars had another crucial utilitarian role to play. The holidays, festivals, etc. were\ndetermined by these. This was an immensely difficult task in light of the existence of\nsuch a large number of different dating systems and eras. In 1928, Times of India\nreported \u2018A war of calendars\u2019 between Maharashtrian Hindus. Such incidents\noccurred because traditional calendars used locally no longer correspond to\nseasons or predicted events easily. Even a Calendar Reform Committee set up by the\ngovernment of India in 1953 wasn\u2019t able to provide a solution which would appeal\nto all groups. Ultimately, the public resorted to various alternatives like purchasing\n\nhybrid calendars showing traditional information laid out in the structure of\nGregorian calendar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calendars are still visible sometimes, though only with a functional use in limited\nhouseholds that too mostly in kitchens or in offices as a few desk calendars, but\nthat\u2019s almost all extent of their use these days. Problematic themes like objectifying\nwomen (once the most popular tool of big companies) or even Gods (one can\npurchase a poster for display) are now mostly avoided. Animals or landscapes are\ncommon on desk calendars bought from charities along with quotes or personalised\ntheme based ones as a thoughtful gift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the increasing trend of flats as preferred form of house combined with new\nstructures and interior designing like glass windows, lack of space, etc. and also the\ntechnological advancement which has made all the information available on the tips\nof fingers at all times, digital calendars, constrained marketing budgets, etc. has\nrendered calendars a thing of the past. They have lost their functional use and are\nalso no longer needed to decorate or signal our allegiances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, calendars, once a fundamental item in every household and also a tool of mass\nappeasing in ways of framing and changing public opinion, a social symbol, a\ncompany\u2019s integrative gift to its employees. In just two decades, are almost on the\nverge of being lost in oblivion and becoming a thing of the past, like many others\nwhich met a swift end due the rapid wave of technological advancement. Calendars\nnow mostly find their way mostly in the house of prominent art collectors,\nexhibitions and auction houses as they lose the battle against modernity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arushi is pursuing her Masters in History from Delhi University.\nExploring culture, society and learning about various facets of humanity has intrigued\nher since childhood and thus she aspires to contribute her bit in making the world a\nbetter place.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Checking days and festivals is now just a click away. Everything can be facilitated through smart phones and the internet. The age of calendars and it\u2019s art now seems like a bygone era. Yet the remnants can still be seen in the corporate world.
\nHow, when and why? Let's click on the link below to gain insights about calendar history in India.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"quote","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1060,1048,1053,189,1038,1040,1045,1056,1065,442,1050,1054,183,1047,1064,1041,1061,1042,485,1055,1062,1046,1059,615,1058,1044,319,193,1051,1052,1057,1063,1043,272,1049,771,1039,414],"class_list":["post-1717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-quote","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","tag-aesthetics","tag-allegory","tag-antiquarian","tag-art","tag-art-forms","tag-calendar","tag-calendar-reform-committee","tag-cultural-integrity","tag-desk-calendar","tag-development","tag-digital-calendar","tag-freedom-symbols","tag-goddesses","tag-gods","tag-gregorian-calendar","tag-household","tag-kingfisher","tag-landscape","tag-lifestyle","tag-lithography","tag-models","tag-modern-art","tag-mother-india","tag-nationalism","tag-printing-press","tag-raja-ravi-verma","tag-religion","tag-representation","tag-sceneries","tag-social-status","tag-social-symbol","tag-suzuki","tag-tape-recorders","tag-technology","tag-themes","tag-traditional","tag-utilitarian","tag-youth","post_format-post-format-quote"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1717"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1818,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1717\/revisions\/1818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}