Karkhana

Karkhana takes us on a meandering journey through the Rajasthani city of Udaipur as we follow American artist Waswo X. Waswo, a 20-year resident of India, through a typical day of collaborations with a variety of Indian artists. From miniature painters such as R. Vijay and Dalpat Jingar, to the third-generation photo hand-colorist Rajesh Soni, to the phenomenally skilled painter of golden borders, Shankar Kumawat, we are treated to an intimate look behind the scenes of Waswo’s extended network of co-creators, as well as the photography studio he uses in the outlying village of Varda. Waswo and his team weave visual narratives that blend vintage miniature painting techniques with digital photography, the past with the present, and a self-effacing humor with existential angst. Karkhana is a word that literally means ‘factory’ in Hindi, but has lineage to the historical painting workshops of Persia. This book explores the continuance of this system of mutual artistic collaboration within a contemporized Indian community, and the manner in which Waswo’s unlikely team has come into the contemporary art market.