Bhajju Shyam

From a fish waiting to be born, to the beginning of art and the necessity of death, lore from the Gond tribal community in central india abounds in stories of origins, transformations and endings. Celebrated Gond artist Bhajju Shyam gathers together these tales for the first time. By linking the cosmic with the everyday, he expresses the essence of each myth in ten sequential images. This extraordinary visual narrative of cyclical time takes us from the germinal moment to the turnaround show more point… where death once again transits into renewal. Gita Wolf’s English text recreates the terse wisdom of Bhajju Shyam’s Hindi expressions with great nuance. This handmade silkscreen-printed edition recreates the brilliant conceptual art of the book, with ink, line and paper combining to add depth and texture to every page. show less

Oh, wow. This book is more of an experience than a read, to be honest. It's also definitely an art/picture book. I remember adding this to my list and thinking, "ah, this'll probably be something wordy and technical, hard to understand". Oops.

Book content warnings:
eye horror (visual)
body horror (visual)

The Night Life of Trees is a collection of screen prints from three of the most celebrated artists from the Gond tribe of central India: Bhajju Shyam, Ram Singh Urveti, and Durga Bai. Each show more print (set on black paper) is accompanied by a tiny folk tale/myth about each tree in the print. The book is huge and stunning, and it's nothing like I've ever seen before. The tales themselves aren't very involving themselves, and would be pale on their own, so I'm very glad this isn't just a collection of tales. But with the pictures, as a whole this book is gorgeous. show less

This is a gem of a book, published in 2004 in association with the Museum of London. Bhajju Shyam is an artist from the Gond tribal community in central India who was invited to London to paint a mural in an Indian restaurant. It was his first time out of India (first time on a plane) and he records his impressions of London in paintings which combine images of his native Gond culture and modern British culture. His first-person commentary on his paintings is also precious.

For example, he show more pictures airplanes as a huge bird of prey that swallows up the humans "who line up to be let inside like insects outside a termite hill". The next image of the plane is of an elephant leaping into the sky -- and it's labeled "the miracle of flight".

Other headings are "There is Another World Below Us" (the Underground), "The Comfort of the Familiar" (the red number 30 bus is like a dog to him, a faithful and loyal friend who helps him get between work and "home"), "Everything Happens in Restaurants" (because the English don't tend to invite people into their homes), "Pubs Set English People Free" (hilarious observation that English people are like bats -- they wear black and they come alive at night (in pubs!)), A Cow in a Gallery (his impressions of Damien Hirst's cut-up cow in the Tate), etc. The book ends with him going back to his village and becoming a storyteller, a bard. show less

A beautifully re-designed edition of a book published 10 years ago by Bhajju Shyam, a celebrated artist from the Gond tribe in central India who traveled to London. He spent two months in the city, and it was the first time he encountered a western metropolis. This chronicle of his journey is a fascinating, unique visual travelogue that features folkloric paintings representative of his culture. Although a picture book, this is not one likely to appeal to most children.