By Tattvavit Das
On May 25, 2024, a new exhibition featuring the paintings of Annapurna Dasi (Anna Johansson) opened at the Museum of Sacred Art (MOSA) in Radhadesh, Belgium. Titled “Illuminations from the Ramayana,” it will be on display for one year and showcase more than 350 of her pencil-and-ink and water-color paintings.
Originally from Sweden, Annapurna Dasi has spent the last 25 years creating the artwork, mainly for the award-winning trilogy “Sita’s Fire,” written by her daughter, Vrinda Sheth. This mother-daughter collaboration on the trilogy began when Vrinda was nineteen, about to leave Sweden to study Bharat Natyam dancing in Chennai, India. In India, Advaita Chandra Dasa, the director of Torchlight Publishing, greatly encouraged Vrinda, and their first book appeared in 2012.
Annapurna’s inner vision to illustrate the Ramayana appeared in her heart when she lived at ISKCON’s eco-village in Almviks Gard, Sweden. It grew and coincided with the inner healing of her anxiety and depression.
Annapurna’s passion for book illustration was inspired by European and American artists who were active in “the golden age of illustration,” 1880–1920: Arthur Rachman, Edmund Dulac, and Warwick Goble. During that time, new printing techniques (such as the half-tone process) and cheaper paper production coincided with railways shipping books and magazines.
Alone in her studio, Annapurna spent many hours collecting online images of action scenes, buildings, animals, weapons, fauna, and more. To her, visual art was a meaningful, important way to share the deep wisdom of the Ramayana.
Read more: https://iskconnews.org/annapurna-dasis-illuminations-from-the-ramayana-exhibit-debuts-at-mosa/
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