Indian Deaf artists revive 16th Century art form

VirtualO is a for-profit philanthropic organization that fosters and promotes “differently-abled” artists. Based in Hyderabad, India, it was founded in 2001 by a young business school professor, Baba Prasad (Ph.D., The Wharton School) and S. Chandramouli (Mouli), an internationally-ranked Deaf badminton player. Dr. Prasad, who lives  in the USA invested his personal funds to start the organization, and now manages the marketing and fundraising. Mouli manages the operations of the organization full-time in Hyderabad, India. 

VirtualO's mission is to recognize differently-abled artists in early stages and help them develop into full-fledged professional artists. In a unique arrangement, it provides these artists steady monthly salaries, art supplies, and studio space so that they can pursue their love for art without worrying about livelihood. VirtualO markets the art in the form of original paintings and also as printed greeting cards, and profits are used to develop the firm and help other differently-abled artists. In the four years since its founding, VirtualO has helped more than a dozen artists, some temporary, and some fulltime. The most prominent of these has been Khaled Mohammed, whose paintings were displayed in two very well-received exhibitions that VirtualO organized recently. 

The Deaf artists at VirtualO, especially Khaled Mohammed, have become famous for their brilliant revival of the difficult 17th Century Deccani art form of marbling (this technique was also used 2000 years ago by Japanese artists who called it Suminagashi). While these ancient traditions used vegetable dyes, VirtualO artists use oils and acrylics which are more difficult to control.