Art of turning wood into wonders

While most of those who retire relinquish from their occupation, following his retirement, a 75-year-old Syed Nasiruddin Viquar engraves his experiences of foreign tours through his new-found love of wood inlay.

Syed Nasiruddin Viquar was documentarian in the United Nations Development Program in Kenya (1977 to 1982) and worked as a librarian with King Faisal Foundation, Riyadh (1983 to 2006). After his retirement, he returned back and started experimenting with artistic works. This self-taught Septuagenarian artist trained over 200 students, most of them without any fee, during the last 10 years while continuing his experiment with new techniques.

Nasiruddin said that wood inlay work is unique to the region. Unlike many other crafts which received royal patronage, the wood inlay crafts remain alive. But its future is uncertain as it is plagued by a lack of interest among the new generation to pursue the craft. "Now, only the girls show a keen interest in learning this art and I trained many girls who are now working professional artisans."

Recalling his journey, Nasiruddin said that during the interior designing of his house, he observed workers and took it as a challenge to learn inlay works. At first, he tried by attempting artwork by using glass, but later on decided to sculpt on wood and has come up with fascinating artwork. "After I realised that glass is fragile, I decided to choose wood as part of this new venture of my life." He said, "There is no age for learning skills."

"I started wood inlay artwork in the year 2008 and later went on to achieve several awards and at national level in particular categories. The artwork was also exhibited in both National and International art galleries."

His art works include relics of Islam, like grand mosques of Mecca, Madina, other historic Mosques and many historic monuments like Golconda, Charminar and many more are engraved on wood. He uses instruments like piercing saws, wood cutter, micro saw, glue, shining spray and different types of wood to provide different shades in inlay work.

The work of the inlays is done using different types of wood (there are about 132 types of wood he currently uses). The pieces of wood start from the size of a pin, which will be used for filling the decorative art. "Creating a single piece requires hours of work, patience and perseverance," said Nasiruddin.

The process starts from the design of the art is first finalized and a photocopy of the art pasted on the wooden frame and later work starts by sculpting the outline with the help of a piercing saw. These pieces of various colored wood are then arranged referring to the initial drawing and are glued together. "The process covers a range of techniques in sculpture and a decorative art for inserting wood pieces into a contrasting wood. After inserting pieces of wood by applying paste, the artwork is kept for 3 to 4 days. For some artwork, shining spray is used for giving a glowing effect and to highlight all the miniscule details. An average project completes in about a month after spending 4-5 hours of time daily," Nasiruddin Viquar explained.