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politics of the day. Being a secular Muslim from a cosmopolitan family with deep political influence, Hussain suddenly found herself being isolated by a discriminating society. Despite her association with conceptual art, however, Hussain's work remains grounded in the physical using, rather than ignoring, the "sensuousness" of the various materials that make up her installations. Critics often reference this emphasis on materiality in the discussion of the social, specifically feminist, concerns of much of
Hussain's oeuvre which acknowledges female corporeality as its starting point. Several of her video and
212:(1999), was made as a resting place for herself and her nation, for the confusion between retaining tradition and yet embracing a future that negotiates a raging capitalism. She created the symbiotic feeling of both a mosque and a hospital with stretchers laid out resembling prayer mats, and blackened, rusted tools running around the perimeter, that appear to be an Urdu script but in fact communicate nothing. This was a metaphorical 'space for healing', as Hussain died just after finishing the work, and the work was made in thinking conceptually of joining the physical and the spiritual.
643:, an organization for the improvement of women’s rights in the embroidery industry in Lucknow. Coming from this background with an embedded sense of feminist action, from a city like Lucknow with its rich history of architecture, research in science and mathematics, a love and belief in arts and culture, and the first city to show a resistance to colonialism, one can read these pervasive influences into Hussain’s work.
109:. In response to the communal violence of the events, as well as to her sudden exposure to ideological assault as a Muslim, Hussain's art not only became more explicitly political as well as personal, but it moved away from traditional media towards installation, video, photography, and mixed-media work. Throughout the 1990s, Hussain participated in exhibitions and events organized by
204:), a hair extension (pharandi), and physically embodied a certain sense of movement and the fleeting quality of sound. In particular, she dons a burka, something that she never – nor members of her family – wore in their daily life as modern, educated, cosmopolitan Muslims – and plays with its symbolism, presence, signification, shape, and interrogates its meaning.
639:, to name only two amongst many positions she held during the 1970s). Hussain’s grandmother, Begum Inam Habibullah, founded the Talimgah-E-Niswan College that focused on the education of Muslim girls, and the first English Degree College, Avadh Girls Degree College. Both were then presided over by her mother (b. 1916) who was also the President of
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While
Hussain was from a wealthy, educated family, she wanted to represent the voice of lower class Muslims, and did so as she began to work in performance around 1993-1994. She began to question her use of materials like paint and canvas, and wanted intentionally to adopt “domestic” materials found
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in India, and is credited with bringing the possibilities and merits of diverse media to critical and popular attention. According to curator and scholar
Swapnaa Tamhane, Hussain made a distinctive shift from allegorical and figurative paintings to multi-media works in an urgent response to the
180:, Hussain "makes matter in a conscious and dialectical way…she not only pitches her identity for display, she constructs a public space for debate." Hussain's work both establishes an effective relationship with the viewer, and challenges him or her to act.
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Rummana
Hussain's repetition or imagery and recycling of materials presented in non-hierarchical modes of display became part of a language she used to articulate the process of understanding her own identity and position. Her last work,
97:. For much of her career, Hussain worked in oil and watercolor. She created largely allegorical figurative paintings. Her art underwent a significant transformation, however, after the events of 1992 in
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in the home used by women (used by the unaccounted for, unrepresented labour force of domestic servants). Hence, she began to use washing detergents, chopping knives, cloth, or food. Her performances,
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176:, for example, center on Hussain's own body – a tactic that positions her work at a unique juncture between the political and personal, the public and private. According to art historian
631:, her parents were politically involved (her father, General Enaith Habibullah, established the National Defence Academy in Pune, and her mother, Hamida Habibullah, was Minister of
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121:, in 1998, just a year before she died, at age 47, after a battle with cancer. Hussain's work has been on view in exhibitions and art fairs worldwide, including at
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200:(1998), all contain materials that continue from one performance into the other. She wore dancer’s anklets with bells (
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77:(1952–1999) was an artist and one of the pioneers of conceptual art, installation, and politically engaged art in
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Tamhane, Swapnaa (2011). "The
Performative Space: Tracing the Roots of Performance-based Work in India".
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in 2006. The couple divorced in 2011. She's currently married to and has a child with Rustom Lawyer.
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to a prominent Muslim family. She was the sister of
Wajahat Habibullah and wife of
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Cotter, Holland (18 July 1999). "Rummana
Hussain, 47, Indian Conceptual Artist".
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1993, Husain Ki Sarai, Exhibition in Aid of
Earthquake Victims, Faridabad, India
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Tamhane, Swapnaa (July 2014). "Rummana
Hussain: Building Necessary Histories".
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Tamhane, Swapnaa (July 2014). "Rummana
Hussain: Building Necessary Histories".
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Flash Art, "In Order to Join CSMVS and Goethe-Institute / Mumbai", April 2015
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Mehta, Anupa (30 March 1994). "What's a bicycle doing in the art gallery?".
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101:, India – a conflict between Hindu and Muslim communities which led to the
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Rummana Hussain in the permanent collection of the Queensland Art Gallery
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Iyengar, Vishwapriya L (December 2009). "Looking for meaning in myriad".
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Cotter, Holland (16 October 1998). "Rummana Hussain: In Order to Join".
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Hussain is cited as one of the foremost leaders in the development of
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620:(TCS). They have a daughter, Shazmeen, who married Indian filmmaker
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Kapur, Geeta (January–April 1999). "The Courage of being Rummana".
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While her ancestors were wealthy landowners in areas east of
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368:, Delhi, India - Curated by Swapnaa Tamhane and Susanne Titz
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Tamhane, Swapnaa (February–April 2015). "Rummana Hussain".
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Kalra, Vandana (12 October 2010). "Musings from the Past".
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The Sahmat Collective: Art and Activism in India Since 1989
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Hoskote, Ranjit (17 April 1994). "The Metaphor Survives".
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Moving Ideas: A Contemporary Cultural Dialogue with India
358:"In Order to Join - The Political in a Historical Moment"
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Queensland Art Gallery, The Third Asia Pacific Triennial
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In Order to Join - the Political in a Historical Moment
616:, an Indian businessman and former interim chairman of
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Women Artists of India: A Celebration of Independence
707:Mehta, Anupa (30 March 1994). "An Inward Journey".
651:Rummana died of Cancer on 5 July 1999. She was 47.
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1991, Centre for Contemporary Art, New Delhi, India
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916:"Rummana Hussain - The Tomb of Begum Hazrat Mahal"
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1110:"Shaad Ali ties the knot again - Times of India"
1088:"IMAGE MUSIC TEXT 20 years of SAHMAT Exhibition"
1016:"RUMMANA HUSSAIN - Exhibitions - Talwar Gallery"
991:"RUMMANA HUSSAIN - Exhibitions - Talwar Gallery"
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941:"RUMMANA HUSSAIN - Exhibitions - Talwar Gallery"
557:Inside Out: Contemporary Women Artists of India
436:Arthur Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania
596:1997, Artspace Studios, Residency, Bristol, UK
372:Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya
1212:Rummana Hussain, 47, Indian Conceptual Artist
397:2009, Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT),
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1180:Art India, "Look Back in Anger," August 2019
724:"Ten memorable exhibitions from last year".
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226:2022, Institute of Arab and Islamic Art,
641:SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association)
360:, Mönchengladbach, Germany and travel to
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567:Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT),
543:Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT),
756:Kapoor, Kamala (1997). "Home Nation".
601:Ministry of Human Resource Development
553:Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art
525:Crosscurrents: Museums of Ethnography
456:National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA)
430:The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum
131:National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA)
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447:Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India
399:IMAGE MUSIC TEXT, SAHMAT (20 Years)
1152:"The heady art of Rummana Hussain"
1150:Sharma, Sanjukta (21 March 2015).
462:Museum of Contemporary Art (MARCO)
445:Art Gallery of Western Australia,
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1230:Rummana Hussain: In Order to Join
635:, a member of parliament and the
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228:The Tomb of Begum Hazrat Mahal
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339:Our time for a future sharing
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336:2019, 58th Venice Biennale,
159:, in Queensland, Australia.
1257:20th-century Indian Muslims
516:, British Council, Bath, UK
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1287:Women installation artists
147:3rd Asia Pacific Triennial
25:Rummana Habibullah Hussain
618:Tata Consultancy Services
392:Excerpts from Diary Pages
347:Kiran Nadar Museum of Art
16:Indian artist (1952–1999)
838:Shahani, Roshan (1994).
532:Mills College Art Museum
356:2013, Museum Abteiberg,
280:1994, Gallery Chemould,
268:Fortitude from Fragments
174:performance-based pieces
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1185:Artforum, January 2016.
612:Rummana was married to
521:Royal Norwegian Embassy
505:, Queensland, Australia
483:Vancouver Art Gallery,
432:, New Brunswick, NJ, US
1272:Artists from Bangalore
438:, Philadelphia, PA, US
426:, Washington, D.C., US
351:Is it what you think?,
273:1998, Art in General,
155:Queensland Art Gallery
1206:, January–April 1999.
1020:www.talwargallery.com
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840:Ways of Seeing in '94
584:Performance and video
470:, Mexico City, Mexico
194:Is it what you think?
186:Living on the Margins
1228:The New York Times,
1219:The New York Times,
1210:The New York Times,
545:Postcards for Gandhi
510:Victoria Art Gallery
379:2013, Smart Museum,
313:Academy of Fine Arts
292:Jehangir Art Gallery
1292:Women video artists
1063:"as the wind blows"
559:, Middlesbrough, UK
488:, Vancouver, Canada
464:, Monterrey, Mexico
299:Shridharani Gallery
282:Fragments/Multiples
216:Notable exhibitions
210:A Space for Healing
1233:, 16 October 1998.
1224:, 23 October 1998.
1114:The Times of India
1043:. artingeneral.org
773:The New York Times
743:The Times of India
693:The New York Times
671:The Indian Express
637:All India Congress
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1267:Political artists
1137:N.paradoxa Vol.34
1041:"Rummana Hussain"
887:N.paradoxa Vol.34
787:"Rummana Hussain"
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1047:20 January
825:C Magazine
655:References
198:In Between
47:Occupation
1094:1 January
872:Art India
622:Shaad Ali
85:Biography
1025:30 March
1000:30 March
975:30 March
950:30 March
202:gungurus
192:(1997),
188:(1995),
65:Children
1072:20 July
925:20 July
793:31 July
629:Lucknow
143:Chicago
105:of the
99:Ayodhya
827:(110).
599:1996,
589:1998,
575:1992,
565:1992,
551:1995,
541:1995,
530:1997,
519:1997,
508:1997,
501:1999,
491:2001,
481:2002,
443:2004,
404:2007,
386:2009,
345:2014,
325:2021,
311:1983,
304:1984,
297:1986,
290:1991,
262:2010,
255:2012,
244:2015,
233:2016,
145:, the
135:Mumbai
127:London
111:SAHMAT
55:Spouse
647:Death
141:, in
133:, in
125:, in
91:India
79:India
1163:2022
1122:2022
1096:2014
1074:2023
1049:2014
1027:2021
1002:2021
977:2021
952:2021
927:2023
795:2014
163:Work
42:1999
39:Died
34:1952
31:Born
117:in
1243::
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680:^
555:,
534:,
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512:,
408:,
390:,
349:,
329:,
266:,
248:,
237:,
137:,
129:,
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68:1
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