MUSIC OF THE SOUL

Zakir Hussain Maquette by Dayanita Singh
Steidl
November 2019Selected by Claire de Rouen

Dayanita Singh’s Zakir Hussain Maquette celebrates the life of living legend Hussain, an Indian musician and composer. Staying true to her intention to produce a “document on Zakir Hussain as a person and therein the musician”, Singh’s photoessay captures the tabla master in tender moments, in which musical instruments and family members organically coexist. Originally conceived in 1986, while Singh was still a student, the project first took the form of a maquette assembled by hand, a process documented by one of two soft covers in this Steidl edition. The work is both a monument to Hussain and a love letter to book making, giving us not one, but two reasons to fall for it. – Lilly Markaki