Chitragati / চিত্রগতি is an ongoing collaborative project between artists Abu Kalam Shamsuddin and Benjamin Thorpe. The aim of the project is to explore cultural materials that overlap with the artists’ life experiences. The word “chitragati” translates to “picture-movement.” This term exemplifies the exchange of images and texts that deepen Thorpe and Shamsuddin’s collaborative work and understanding of each others’ perspectives. Each project touches upon matters of social and environmental justice, and is fully realized through engagement with wider circles of artists, scholars, community audiences, and institutions.
Our primary work currently centers on the early nineteenth-century painter, Sita Ram, who was hired by the British East India Company to paint the sites and landscapes marking the Company’s military tours through the Ganga Delta Region. In December 2021, we co-published an essay in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh titled “Sita Ram’s Hybrid Paintings of Nineteenth-century India” (Vol. 66, No. 2), and they are planning further iterations of the project in the coming year.
Here is a link to read our essay the Dec 2021 Issue of the JASB (Humanities) – https://www.asiaticsociety.org.bd/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Humanities_Dec_2021.pdf
