Art
Life of Guru Nanak:
The Art Of Three Young Punjabis
by SHEVETA BHATIA
Outside the dwelling, a divine light pervaded the cloudy sky. Inside, Daulatan - the midwife - was hard at work while father, Mehta Kalu, waited nervously. It was at that moment that the infant found his way into the world - the one who grew up to be called Guru Nanak, the First Sikh guru.
As one walks across the exhibition titled “Illustrated Biography of Guru Nanak", which has been put up by a team led by George Emmanual, a final-year student of MFA, Government College of Art, many minute details of the Guru’s life emerge pictorially.
Thirty frames, most of them divided into sub-frames, give a vivid account of his life - his childhood, odysseys, experiences, philosophy, the way he stood up against superstitions and social evils, his married life and how he passed on the Guruship to the next Guru.
Each of the three artists also works at Probity Comics, which has published a series of graphic story books on the life of Guru Nanak. George Emmanual is Creative Directror at Probity, while Calib and Jagseer Singh are Core Designers with the same group of creative artists led by Amanjot Singh and Sukhbir Singh.
“It’s an attempt to demonstrate my love for the Guru,” says Emmanual, who read up on Guru Nanak’s life for the last two years, researching on historical facts, visiting places that held any relevance in the Guru’s life. Besides, he got in touch with the Guru’s direct descendent, Avtar Singh, to verify the facts.
Not surprisingly, Emmanual asked Avtar Singh to inaugurate the exhibition earlier this month.
Besides the show, Emmanual - through the creative team at Probity - has also come out with six graphic story books on the Guru’s life that have been circulated in Canada and U.K.
He was inspired by the Guru ever since he was a child, and this is evident in his work.
“I want to spread his teachings by documenting his life. I want to compile it in the form of a novel and also make a movie,” he says.
[Courtesy: Indian Express. Edited for sikhchic.com]
October 28, 2011
Conversation about this article
1: Gurdip Kaur (New York, U.S.A.), October 28, 2011, 8:50 PM.
Mr. George Emmanual, you are doing an excellent job!
2: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), October 28, 2011, 10:53 PM.
This is a great act of seva.