2009 | 2010 Catalogue 2009 – 2010 oing on 15, Tara is a fiercely independent publisher based Gin Chennai, India. We are now collectively owned by the creative people who run it, and as ever, unashamed of our feminist guiding principles. Our understanding of bookmaking as important cultural intervention has widened this year, with more unconventional and adventurous conversations between artists and writers. The year has been an eventful one. We have two major new directions to announce: a photography series called ‘Indian Album’ featuring some of the most talented yet unknown street photographers of India; and a graphic novel list created by Patua folk artists from Bengal in collaboration with a range of brilliant writers across the world. Our ongoing work with the rich folk and tribal artists of India continues: the painting of the office autorickshaw with Gond artist Bhajju Shyam was the happiest event by far. We’ve also started working with several new traditions: Warli from Maharashtra and Mithila art from Bihar, and our new books continue to strive for a union of fine form with rich content. Contents Handmade Bookmaking 5 For all aGes 6 Graphic Novels 6 Picture Books | Visual Arts 7 For adults 11 Picture Books | Visual Arts 11 Photography 18 Art&Design | Pop Culture 19 Fiction | Non-Fiction 21 For CHildren 23 Picture Books 23 Fiction | Non-Fiction 32 Arts&Crafts 34 stationery 36 art Prints 38 awards 39 index 0 ContaCts 1 Handmade BookmakinG 5 Tara’s specialTy: Books Made enTirely By Hand “Part of the experience of opening and handling a Tara handmade book is the fragrance it emits from between the covers. The confluence of paper and inks is unlike anything you are accustomed to here. You know you are experiencing a different world, a different culture, as the exotic, bookish fumes enter your nose.” Fine Books & Collections he texture, colour and smell of a handmade book lures the senses Tback to the experience of reading for pleasure. Created in our Chennai workshop, our handmade books are made using screen-printing and letterpress processes, which we have pioneered over the last fifteen years. Guided by the principle, “Nothing is impossible”, Tara Books’ Production Manager, C. Arumugam, and over a dozen skilled craftspeople from local villages produce books that are entirely made by hand. Using handmade paper (made from a mixture of cotton cloth waste and tree bark, rice husk or grass), they individually screen-print or letterpress each page of every book. Run on fair trade practices, more than 160,000 handmade books have been born and bound in our workshop so far. As far as we know, we are the only publishing press in the world that produces books by hand in these numbers. Our handmade editions are cultural objects: accessible, as well as affordable, for book lovers around the globe. legend: New release Award winner Handmade Tamil version Reprint available forthcoming all aGes_GraphiC novels 6 THe paTua GrapHic novels atua artists from Bengal in eastern India are traditional scroll- Ppainters, who create vivid art out of all kinds of narratives—from fables and classical tales to contemporary news items. Each scroll is made up of a vertical sequence of storytelling panels. The Patua artist, once an itinerant story-teller, pointed to each panel and sang a song which narrated the story of what he had drawn. The art is still alive today, whereas the story-telling has weakened. The original art has a strong resonance to graphic novels. Keeping this in mind, Tara Books worked closely with a group of Patua artists to evolve a set of graphic novels. The artists took to the new form with enthusiasm and created story panels which we laid out as a graphic novel. Story-tellers from across the world came up with the text. A rare combination of art and story, Tara’s Patua Graphic Novels are a uniquely Indian version of a universally loved form. sita’s ramayana Samhita Arni/Moyna Chitrakar Sita’s Ramayana, created by Patua artist Moyna Chitrakar with text by young writer Samhita Arni, offers an unusual take on a well-known tale. It is narrated from Sita’s— the heroine’s—point of view, drawing on a little known but sustained tradition of female retellings of the epic. Graphic Novels HC; Colour; 165 x 235 mm 978-93-80340-03-6 Forthcoming i seen the Promised land Arthur Flowers/Manu Chitrakar I Seen the Promised Land narrates the life of Martin Luther King. African-American writer and griot, bard and blues singer Arthur Flowers does the telling, while Patua artist Manu Chitrakar adapts King’s life to the colour and vivid grammar of his art. This extraordinary telling is replete with the will of the gods, fate, destiny and the human Graphic Novels HC; Colour; 165 x 235 mm condition. Traversing the milestones of 978-93-80340-04-3 King’s short life, his ministry and journey, it Forthcoming brings together two very different yet equally dramatic traditions of story-telling. all aGes_PiCture Books * visual arts the Flight of the mermaid Gita Wolf/Sirish Rao/Bhajju Shyam Based on the original Hans Christian Andersen story, this poetic version of Art/Classics the mermaid’s tale becomes a classic HC; 32 pp; Colour feminist parable on the warring 230 x 210 mm claims of love and choice. Expressive Screen-printed text; Images offset Gond tribal art bridges the worlds of 978-81-906756-0-4 water, land and air. rs. 560 | $29.95 | £16.99 “The story is also a journey of self discovery ... This journey of the mermaid can well be our own.” The Hindu all aGes_PiCture Books * visual arts 8 Pop-up/Visual Art aBC3d HC; 52 pp; 2-Colour 140 X 180 mm Marion Bataille 978-0-7475-9579-3 rs. 950 (India only) The alphabet comes to life on paper in an ornate and ingenious fashion in a spectacular pop-up book that can be enjoyed by children and adults. ABC3D is the second book in Tara’s French Focus series, which presents a new series of visual arts titles published by Tara Books in association with the French Embassy in India. all aGes_PiCture Books * visual arts 9 Art/Pets/Gifts i like Cats HC; 48 pp; Colour 179 x 179 mm Anushka Ravishankar/Various Artists 978-81-906756-1-1 rs. 350 | $2.95 | £12.99 Fat cats, brat cats, grinning cats, wigged cats, cats with scowls and cats with jowls... I Like Cats emerges from the brushstrokes of the best-known tribal artists of India. It features a gallery of irresistible feline characters across a variety of Indian tribal art traditions. This is a book for that will delight art lovers, cat lovers and artsy cat lovers! “Simple but clever verse and striking imagery give the book a refined aesthetic.” Publishers Weekly all aGes_PiCture Books * visual arts 10 metamorphosis an artist envisions the asanas of yoga Emanuele Scanziani/Jennifer Abel Yoga emphasizes transcendence, an inexpressible merging of the body, mind and spirit. This philosophy is evident in the practice of asanas, or yogic poses, Health & Well-Being/ many of which are derived from observing Art/Spirituality birds, animals, trees and everyday objects. HC; 48 pp; Colour Performing an asana successfully is not 203 x 178 mm merely a question of posture—the yogi 978-81-86211-48-9 needs to physically and mentally establish a rs. 395 | $16.95 | £9.99 relationship to the pose. Metamorphosis playfully explores the extraordinary moment when the body of the yogi meets the object of contemplation. Twenty one stunning paintings and evocative text visualize yoga’s potential to transform the relationship between body, mind and imagination. revolution Sara With picture-book style content that is discernibly political, this is a powerful allegory of revolution in red, black and white by French artist Sara. Her simple yet forceful collage art evokes revolt, repression and war, but also immutable freedom in the face of tyranny. Charged with emotion, this is a world in which visuals take the place of words, drawing the Art/Politics reader into and beyond the struggle for liberty. HC; 64 pp; Colour 280 x 190 mm 978-81-86211-46-5 rs. 395* | $22.95 | £11.99 * Subsidized Indian price available for special orders French Focus is a new series of visual arts titles published by Tara Books in association with the French Embassy in India, an initiative to make our favourite French titles also available in English. Winner of the Golden Apple, BIB, 2005 adults_PiCture Books * visual arts 11 Art/ Design signature HC; 88 pp; Colour 210 x 230 mm In the intricate art of the Gond tribal 978-93-80340-02-9 community of central India, decorative Forthcoming patterns fill the surface of images in amazing profusion. Originally executed on walls and floors, Gond art has since found its way to paper and canvas. Artists work with inherited conventions, but inflect these in distinctive ways—one of the most striking instances is their use of patterns. Each pattern is different from the others, and each is unique to a particular artist. A Gond artist uses these carefully chosen signs as individual markers— so a pattern is his or her identifying signature. It is not just an aesthetic sign, but a valued symbol of memories and stories that an artist cherishes. Playing brilliantly on the skill, imagination and meaning inherent in Gond patterning, Signature offers a unique compendium of Gond artists—ranging from well known ones like Bhajju Shyam and Durga Bai, to emerging teenage talents. adults_PiCture Books * visual arts 12 Art/Fiction HC; 48 pp, Colour 170 x 170 mm Screen-printed 978-81-906756-6-6 rs.