#HeritageTransmission - Traditional art connects the hearts of the masters with the village young in unique workshops at #RuralCraftHubs
Bijoy Sutradhar, a
wooden doll making legend and a village elder of great repute had told me
something that had moved me into deep thinking. “The world is obsessed with the
conundrum of whether it was the egg or the chicken that came first? And in
their haste to find answers, they ignore both the egg and the chicken, not
knowing what to do with either, when they have them in their hands.”
This was in context of
the Common Facility Centre that was then being constructed in his village. On
paper, the idea was lofty – to create the infrastructure around which the art
of the people can be refurbished, even revived with the view towards empowering
the local artists, help them establish the last mile connectivity with the
markets and link them to the tourism trails to increase both exposure and
appreciation.
Today, his village has
a swank common facility center – museum for local art, space for the artists to
hold workshops, society offices to thrash out common concerns, accommodation
for guests, et all – just the time to put the chicken and the egg to work. And
it is towards the achievement of this objective that the Heritage Transmission
Workshops were organised in the six Rural Craft Hubs of West Bengal between May
26th and 28th of 2016.
The
objective of the exercise was two-fold. One was to engage the young people of
the artist’s villages with their tradition and the other was to get more people
involved with the CFC to develop ownership. The chicken and the egg, as opposed
to the chicken or the egg that Bijoy Sutradhar had pointed out. For what good
is a CFC to a village if it becomes only the exclusive domain of the artists
and does not embrace the entire village to share its nectar? Similarly,
shouldn’t one of the key functions of the CFC be to act as a catalyst – to
foster change in the impressionable minds of the village children and connect
them to their art and legacies?
On
the 3 days of the workshop, the children were oriented on the history of their
place in the context of their craft tradition, the history of the craft itself and
given an introductory training on the making by the senior artists of the
village. Theatre based fun and participatory activities were used to make the
whole learning process fun and easy for comprehension. Children were also
introduced to Photography as a tool to express their feelings. They were also
oriented on aspects like framing and story-telling through photographs. The
children then clicked photographs of various aspects of their life, their
village and the art that makes them special. The 3 days were concluded with
folk cultural presentations at each hub by artists who were identified with
potential during our recently concluded Baul trainings, thereby adding another
dimension to the entire process.
Dilip
Sutradhar, one of the star doll makers of Natungram was ecstatic: “I am amazed
at the level of understanding and ability of the children to replicate our art.
As they have had no formal training, I believe they have reached this level of
proficiency only by watching us work, which is remarkable. I will not be able
to express in words just how excited I feel about this – the children of our
village are not only able, but also willing to embrace the art of our
forefathers. I can now rest in peace, knowing that the hands that will curve
our tradition and take it into the future are ready.”
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