Arts and Photography

Richard Williams is most well-known as the Director of Animation, along with the designer of the Who Framed Roger Rabbit characters. He was also voted ‘The Animator’s Animator’ by his peers in 1990. In 1995, he began the Richard Williams Animation Masterclass, which is open to professionals and students around the world.
Animation is one the most exciting and creative areas in film-making today. Animation is one of today’s most exciting and creative areas of film-making.

What is the Indian nation’s view of itself and its country through cinematic depictions of war? Indian history is shaped by war. In the Indian public imagination, the 1962 China war (with a large part of the population), the 1971 Bangladesh war (with a significant portion of the population) and the 1999 Kargil war (with a lot more people watching) all play prominent roles. This aspect of Indian history is represented by the Indian film industry’s war films. Samir Chopra’s book, fascinatingly written by him, examines these films’ emotional portrayals of Indian military history. This book examines the classics of war movies — from Border, Haqeeqat and Hindustan Ki Kasam, to Vijeta LOC Kargil and Lakshya to learn more about the Indian nation’s relationship to war. Chopra investigates how these movies reinforce ‘Indian’ values by presenting war in cinematic representations. This book is essential reading for anyone who is interested in Indian cinema and Indian history.

Hazel Soan is an internationally renowned artist. She splits her studio time between London, Cape Town, and exhibits her work extensively. Her paintings are in many collections around the world. She is the author or 7 books about painting. She also contributes regularly to art magazines and organizes very popular painting holidays. She has been an Art Expert on Channel 4’s Watercolour Challenge, and has appeared on a variety of radio and television shows both here and abroad.
Collins Artist’s Little Book of Inspiration, a beautifully illustrated sourcebook of inspiration and ideas, is for artists who are looking to find new creative possibilities. Popular artist Hazel Soan shares how to improve your observation skills and unleash your creativity through practical instruction, illustrated projects, and step-by–step demonstrations in acrylic, watercolour, and oil. This book will teach you how to see the world around you and find inspiration. It will also help you recognize potential subjects and consider new ways of approaching them. Hazel Soan encourages experimentation with paper and other surfaces, refreshing your palette and understanding the potential of different materials. This little book will help you to plan your next project, including how to use tone and texture and creatively incorporate colour. You will be able to see the world and the art materials around you in a different light. This book offers ideas that can inspire you at home, on the road, and even while traveling. The book includes inspiring gallery pages that show how other artists have approached their subjects in new ways.

Doors of perception –
the art of Manoj kachangal –
Manoj kachangal’s paintings have astonishing range of colours, the depth of his works, their complex abstract language with its origins in the magical landscape of Mandu (Madhya Pradesh), as well as his technical skill and inventiveness represented here must astonish even his keenest admirers. In the contemporary medium of acrylic, on both canvas and paper, Manoj Kachangal conveys the unremitting freshness of his vision. In his search he is always ‘cleansing the mirror of perception.’
This attractively designed book coincides with Manoj’s large solo show at the Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi (August 1 to 6, 2008).
—Vinod Bhardwaj

Allama Muhammad, also known as the “Poets of the East”, earned a doctorate from the Ludwig-Maximillian University in Munich in philosophy. He wrote some of his most powerful poems in Urdu which was not his native language. Jawaharlal Naehru was one of his admirers, and Mahatma Gandhi also admired him. His funeral was attended to by over 70,000 people. This was a testament to his ability not only to defy categorization but also colonialists as well as freedom fighters and socialist atheists. It is a short book that introduces Iqbal the millennial generation. It’s written in a modern language similar to Ghalib: A Thousand Desires. The book’s bulk will be a chronological and intellectual biography of Iqbal. The rest of the book will contain a detailed discussion about one of Iqbal’s poems, translations of some of his most well-known poems and some of his most famous verses. This book will not be for the Urdu-expert or Iqbal-expert. It will however be for someone who is relatively new to the subject.