Divine bovine
My anthropological research of the Hindu tradition to celebrate the harvest and the bovine sacredness: a series photos of the rare decorated holy cows where the use of colours on the coat of the cow is an expression of art painted on a walking canvas, the cow is carrying the painting while being the painting itself.
My six-year quest for exploration of the Hindu tradition of dressing and adorning the sacred cows was a long course of study and travel, to obtain the largest possible repertoire of this art that unfortunately is rapidly disappearing. I produced almost 100 images: few compared to my laborious and meticulous investigation as the tradition is passed down orally only, many compared the rarity of the subject. Adorned with fresh flowers and colourful decorations, the cows are also prepared by painting their coat and horns with organic pigments that have specific references, and this is the most striking design element. The pigments are thrown on the animal with an artistic flair that recalls the informal painting of Jackson Pollock. The sacredness of the temple, the Go Puja, is celebrated by painting the bindi in the middle of the forehead of the animal, just like all the faithful humans. Finally, I cropped the animals making them float on the milky white, to emphasize the artistic work done by the locals on the cows because the surrounding rural and bucolic scenery is so imbued with Indian folk icon to mitigate the stylistic and artistic contributions used to celebrate the perpetual ritual of life and the sanctity of the animal.
