Haku Shah - A Lifestory

Someone was a person with many talents, like a true Renaissance person from India. He was more than just a painter; he lived by the values of Gandhi and spent his life learning about and keeping safe the rich folk and tribal art and culture of India. Think of him as someone who told stories with pictures, carefully writing down the traditions that are often missed in the big stories of history, like a filmmaker capturing quick moments of beauty. His journey was not just about art, it was about people. Like someone who studies cultures, he went deep into communities, listening to their stories, watching their rituals, and turning them into bright works that said a lot. He wrote books that became important guides, giving insight into a world rarely seen by people from the outside. Many saw him as a living link between the modern art world and the old wisdom of India's villages. As his colleague Professor X said in 1985, "He had a strange ability to see the deep in the simple, the holy in the everyday." His work, from his paintings shown at the Venice Biennale in 1990 to his careful writing down of tribal rituals, was a strong reminder of the beauty and strength of India's cultural history. He passed away on 21 March 2019.