Masud Huseyn, an artist from Srinagar, presented a series of works where horses, symbolizing power, are rendered in a flat, bold, cubist style reminiscent of the Bollywood billboards he previously created in Mumbai. However, in this new series, his horse is depicted on a pashmina and dyed with wool bearing the earliest Kashmiri verses, which were orally transmitted for 600 years before anyone recorded them.
This transition represents a sharp change for Huseyn, whose work for many years was dedicated to documenting the conflict, sorrow, and daily life of Kashmir. For the first time, he has inscribed 'Lal Vakhs'—mystical quatrains by the Kashmiri poetess Lal Ded, who lived in the 14th century—onto pashmina shawls.
Huseyn announced on Tuesday at an exhibition in Srinagar that he created twenty such shawls over two years. He noted: 'These are painted shawls based on the Lal Vakhs. I selected 20 Vakhs, then I contemplated them and painted them.'
Lal Ded, also known as Lalleshwari, was born near Srinagar into a family of Kashmiri pandits. After being subjected to violence in her husband's home, she had to leave at the age of 26 to become a wandering Shaivite mystic. Muslims called her Lal Arifa. Her Vakhs, derived from the Sanskrit word 'vaak,' meaning 'speech' or 'utterance,' are among the earliest works in the Kashmiri language and form the basis of its literary tradition.
Huseyn's shawls give a visual form to these words. One depicts the so-called celestial horse—a rider moving under a sky embroidered with constellations. Other shawls address themes of death, spiritual transition, and the unseen, mentioned by Lal Ded.
The idea for this project arose after Huseyn collaborated with the Irish poet Gabriel Rosestock, who died of cancer in April of this year. Their first joint project was dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's birth. 150 minimalist haikus and tankas by Rosestock were combined with Huseyn's watercolors, merging Irish culture, Kashmiri art, and Gandhian philosophy of peace into one book.
Huseyn shared his thoughts, saying: 'I mainly painted Kashmir and its conflict. When I collaborated with Rosestock, a lot changed. Why not work on Kashmiri Sufism, the Rishi culture, the syncretic culture, and turn it into paintings? Why not start with Lal Ded on pashmina? The idea came to me.'
Lal Ded walked barefoot, wandered, and spoke in riddles. Huseyn began by deeply studying her and her poetry. He noted: 'A lot has been written, but no one has given it a visual form. I tried. The medium is the message. It is old poetry in a new shell—mysticism that can be worn.'