Speaking Archaeologically workshop on Buddhist art and Archaeology – 5th August, 2018

“The past is a foreign country and art is the passport to it.” - Anonymous

If my life could be a testament to anything it would probably be to the fact that staying up post three scrolling through Instagram while sipping on your second cup of espresso can land you in the most unexpected of places; sometimes ,even the right places. Now don’t get me wrong , I don’t mean to recommend such unhealthy behavior to anyone reading this but that is how I came across ‘Speaking Archaeologically’s’  Instagram handle some three months ago. Needless to say it wasn't long before I fell in love with history all over again and decided this organisation was something I wanted to be a part of . What followed that was me applying the famed and oft used three fold Bollywood strategy to get anything you want in life, which in this case included religiously stalking the Instagram page for recruitment posters or declarations, working hard to prove I’m worthy by sending in submissions and finally, Shriya replying to my over the top enthusiastic emails and taking me in. Now when I look back I can say with pride that like all great love stories mine started with a DM and a follow.  Only my love story with history hasn’t reached its very end and with everything we do at speaking archaeologically it only grows every day.

So post our recruitment session when we were called in for our first workshop at the Government Museum and Art Gallery in Sector 10 Chandigarh, I was beyond excited.   We were greeted at the venue by Shriya who made it a point to flash a genuine smile the moment she saw any of us enter. The air was filled with anticipation and eagerness for  the new minds like me stood visibly beguiled trying to take in the space looking around with rat eyes at all the sculptures , while the old ones, our seniors stood in the background  looking at us with curiosity trying to compare and picture themselves from when they  had come for their first workshop .Once everyone arrived, Shriya started with  introducing the topic for the session  which was followed by the process of deconstructing ideas ,preconceived notions and dispelling myths through a friendly interaction. We were explained the concept of sculptures-the different types: broadly relief and free standing, the distinguishing features of the various schools of art to which the Buddhist sculptures belonged mainly the Gandhara and Mathura schools of art, briefly explained the importance of a provenance while looking at ancient objects and were provided with an understanding of how to analyze every visible detail so as to construct a history of the object. 

Sculpture of Maitreya, Gandhara School of Art
(Late 2nd century CE)

We were given worksheets for object analysis and a handout to refer to for instructions and information related to the same. We were then divided into teams in a way that saw the coming together of people from different academic disciplines and from different batches at Speaking Archaeologically, some sort of ice-breaking session as it was claimed to be, the idea of which itself is enough to give you a panic attack if you like me faked a sore throat every time the teacher asked you to introduce yourself to the class.  So if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to witness a discussion between archaeology, anthropology, history and law students who have been put together in one team I’m here to tell you that it’s no different from watching a political debate on any Indian news channel. My team which comprised of Mayank, Vidushi , Muskan and I walked around the museum with our worksheets trying to find the most interesting sculptures to analyze …or should I say the easiest ones. Each one of us was asked to pick any five Buddhist sculptures and instructed to be as concise in our descriptions as possible. 

Safe to say that one hour out of two was spent taking pictures of and staring at the sculptures in hopeless despair wishing they would magically come alive and tell us everything we needed to know about their history. And so while the newbie’s like me in every team stood in front of the sculptures looking visibly perplexed it wasn’t long until the seniors in our teams stepped in and decided to bless us with their insights to build on from whatever they had learned in their years at Speaking Archaeologically. Shriya, with her endless amount of knowledge, using more wit and charm than the law allows kept interacting and checking up on us every once in a while to keep us from crying at our lack of cognizance. Thus we toiled for another one hour with our brain cells working in high gear, noting down in the columns of the worksheets any details that could be noticed in an effort to study and come up with answers regarding things like the original resting place of the sculpture, the material used, the school of art based on our observations and through them to deduce a basic understanding of the sculpture, its patron and people and the economy of the time.

Once confident about our observation sheets we took them to Shriya for evaluation who patiently corrected our mistakes and patted our backs for a job well done. And even though my team didn’t get the highest score that day we made it a point to congratulate the team that did .Thus, with new perspectives gained we headed for the one thing everyone at Speaking Archaeologically looks forward to post a good workshop – Food.   And so while everyone sat down for lunch all giggly and amused, I couldn’t help but wonder how beautiful it is that in archaeology even the most minute details like the draping of a cloth as depicted in a sculpture, the quality of the material used etc. can provide deep rooted insights into the life, trade and culture of the time. It is only through careful evaluation of ancient objects like sculptures that we get an insight into the creative capacities of the generations gone by, the socio-economic and political conditions of the time, the prevailing customs and beliefs and are able to trace their origins and impact in the vast expanse of time. Thus, archaeology if not the biggest serves as a medium to appreciate the beauty of artistic expression.