When Shadows Speak by Editorial Board

Encouraged and nurtured by a small number of individuals around the globe, hand shadowgraphy – also called ombromanie – is an awe-inspiring and a one-of-its-kind art form. Entertaining and enamouring the world, it is the art of creating shadows using hands and fingers on a blank screen against a light source. More than anything else, it requires dexterity and flexibility of fingers and a creative mind capable of out-of-the box thinking.

Amar Sen and Sabyasachi Sen are professional hand shadowgraphers from India and have the world on their fingertips. Literally.

With common interests like music, mimicry and magic, they came together almost forty years ago to create this exquisite world of hand shadowgraphy in the country. They have enthralled audiences across the world with their storytelling in videos such as Let Calcutta Surprise You, Incredible India and the 2012 Kolkata Literary Meet anthem Ei Patay Oi Patay.

The characters in the story are created by the use of hands and fingers and the piece is backed by suitable sound and music. “Hand shadowgraphy is the representation of life, wherein different forms and ways of life merge into one another and can change right before your eyes,” says Amar Sen. The Sens are the only two artists from Asia who professionally engage in this art form, from among a total of nine artists across the world.

60-year-old Amar Sen has won the Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Award for Versatile Excellence in 2000, the Heritage Samman Award for Hand Shadowgraphy in 2010 and the Kala Ratna Award for Versatile Talent in 2010. He is currently the Vice-President of the Federation of Indian Magic Association (FIMA). His companion in creativity is 63-year-old Sabyasachi Sen, an advocate by profession but also a magician, a ventriloquist and a photographer. He has been associated with group theatre and stage presentation for several years as well.