In college I read a shortened translation of the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, all text and no illustrations. I remember it captured my attention, but it also felt a little strange to take in the story without visuals. I was more used to seeing it performed by dancers, or actors on the small screen, and also in comics, thanks to my parents taking me to cultural programs, thanks to my grandmother (named Sita) who watched the epic in installments via video rentals, and thanks to a gift I received one summer in India, a volume of Amar Chitra Katha comics.

A new art exhibition brings together those different ways (and many others) of experiencing the Ramayana visually, with a focus on four characters from the epic: Rama, Sita, Hanuman and Ravana. San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum hosts The Rama Epic: Hero, Heroine, Ally, Foe from October 21, 2016 through January 15, 2017. In addition to the paintings, sculpture and other objects of art on display, the exhibition has scheduled a number of programmed events. These include the screening of G. Aravindan’s Kanchana Sita on opening weekend, an eco-cinema telling of the epic by artist Anuj Vaidya on December 10-11, plus Balinese, North Indian and Cambodian dance performances.

This weekend, on November 5, the museum offers an interactive event with five local illustrators who were invited to reimagine the epic with a contemporary San Francisco spin (one envisioned Ravana as a tech titan). Four illustrators (Jon Adams, Wesley Allsbrook, Sophia Foster-Dimino, Andrea Nguyen) drew key episodes and the fifth (Sanaa Khan) designed the poster for this comic zine-style limited edition version of the epic. Get a glimpse of their work in the images below:

Righteous vengeance, eternal love and everlasting friendship? We’ve teamed up with five Bay Area illustrators to bring the #RamaEpic to life through a limited-edition offset comic book with a contemporary, San Francisco spin. On Nov 5, meet them at the museum for a special Q&A and hear their inspiration behind the tale. #DrawingRama A video posted by Asian Art Museum (@asianartmuseum) on Oct 4, 2016 at 5:20pm PDT

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Pavani Yalamanchili is an editor at The Aerogram. Find her on Twitter at @_pavani, and follow The Aerogram at @theaerogram and on Facebook.