Interview by Suparna Sengupta and Priya Chauhan of Qamar Dagar in New Delhi, July 2017
Qamar Dagar recalls how her guru Hazrat Amin Abdullah Khan ‘Baba’ taught her the potency of simplicity over elaboration, and the power of artist Hassan Massoudy's work. She describes how Devanagari and Perso-Arabic scripts come together in her work, and other contemporary innovations such as the introduction of colours, and the augmenting/attenuation of lines to convey power or delicacy. Reflecting on how in music, calligraphy and literature, artists summon notes, strokes and words to convey mood and intent, she observes that a calligraphic stroke evokes the uniqueness of an individual life, its transition from opacity and transparency reflecting how experience of 'the profusion of the element' gives way, in time, to clarity.
