Attack of the Akram - Limited Edition of 25 Print

Part of my "Remnants of the Raj" collection, this piece captures the extreme passion and nationalistic fervor that the game of Cricket between the great rivals from the subcontinent, India and Pakistan, evoked in India in the 1990s. The "gentleman's game", as it is popularly referred to, Cricket was used as a political tool by the British Raj to exploit the Hindu-Muslim tensions amongst the populace by promoting competitive games between the various religion based "Gymkhanas" (Gentlemen's Clubs - a Britisj Raj term still widely used in India and Pakistan). Famous for their rivalry were the Hindu and the Muslim Gymkhanas in Bombay in pre-independent India. The games between these two teams often resulted in communal clashes between its supporters. These games were derided by Gandhi, who warned the people about the machinations of the colonial masters in trying to divide the people on religious lines. The work tries to capture the continuation of the Cricket rivalry between the Hindus and Muslims of the subcontinent in form of the India Pakistan games of the 1990s. The far superior team of Pakistan led by the legendary Paksitani fast bowler and skipper Wasim Akram, often derailed the Indian team's hopes to beat their rivals. Led by captain Wasim Akram's lethal left-arm fast bowling, the visiting team of Pakistan would often decimate the Indian team in front of the home crowds much to the chagrin of the right-wing political party, the "Shiv Sena" (God's Army) in Bombay. In anticipation of the drubbing the Indian team would probably recieve from the Pakistan team, the leader of Shiv Sena, Bal Thackeray would order his party workers to dig up the cricket pitch at the stadium the match was scheduled and create an atmosphere of religious tension in the city of Bombay. Bal Thackeray would often evoke the specter of the "Muslim Invader" in his speeches opposing the cricket matches between Pakistan and India. This work tries to evoke a sense of mirth and amusement in the viewer thinking of the right wing political ideologues equating a simple game of cricket to the myth of the great invasions of the Muslim rulers of the subcontinent. In the work, the imagery of Wasim Akram about to deliver one of his lethal "In-Swingers" (A form of fast pitching in cricket that curves the ball towards the batsman) and the legendary Indian Batsman Sachin Tendulkar castled by one such delivery is surrounded by the images and news headlines showcasing the rhetoric of the right wing politicians in Bombay. The digital treatment tries to evoke a comic book feel to the whole affair reflecting the style of popular comic books of the subcontinent while depicting historical war sequences with extreme action elements. The title is a tongue-in-cheek attempt to imitate the titles of the comic books from the subcontinent of the historical war genre. The work is offered as a large canvas print