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Emporias or commercial galleries, the arts and
crafts scenario in Bengal is vibrant. All you have to do is find your
own individual connection with links that are steeped in tradition or
modern ideologies.
Bengal’s tradition
of arts and crafts is deeply rooted in her people. The average
Bengali, for better or worse, has been sensitive to his artistic
environment. Look at the alpana design created for special
occasions on the floor with just rice powder or chalk, marvel at the
way a hundred different garlands are woven for a hundred different
occasions, watch the Durga images created and sunk into the Ganges
every autumn and you will know what I mean.
The crafts tradition in
Bengal is primarily folk in character and linked to people’s
everyday life and geographical location. But even mundane items of
daily use like cooking pots or baskets or combs or mirrors or humble
reed mats reflect great beauty along with their utility.
Bengal is immortalized
all over the world through its humble terra-cotta Bankura horse but
you visit any village in this state and you are bound to find the
kumbhakars creating items of daily use on their basic potter’s
wheel. The source of their raw material is the rich, alluvial clay
found in Bengal’s rivers. These are shaped and fired in simple
kilns. From pots, containers, plates for food to toys and ritual
figurines, the Bengal potter moulds it all.
At Kumartuli in Kolkata
some of Bengal’s most innovative clay-potters fashion the
various images of popular gods and goddesses worshiped en masses. The
high point comes when, every autumn, Durga idols are made. Some of
them are indeed exquisite works of art. Today, some renowned
sculptors are also commissioned to produce replicas of Durga by
Bengali NRIs who carry the image all the way to the USA and England!
If you look at the rich decorative terra-cotta panels of temples in
Murshidabad, Bishnupur and Midnapore, you will realize how much a
fistful of clay means to the Bengali’s artistic psyche.
Reed mats and baskets
find a variety of uses and often, on a humid summer evening, you will
chance upon the madur-mat seller carrying his ware through the
winding lanes of lush villages. This mat is woven on a simple bamboo
frame loom. The warp is cotton thread and the weft a thin, soft
madur-reed but the designs are ignited by the weaver’s
imagination and often become a rare marvel. The shitalpati is
another kind of mat found in Bengal, Assam and Tripura. These are
woven with flat strips in check, twill or zigzag designs, sometimes
incorporating stylized human and animal forms. Fans are made from
palmyra leaves which are dyed in different colours and beautiful
geometric designs are created by deft fingers. Cane baskets have
traditional shapes and are made in different sizes. Many are used by
city people now as plant-holders and fashionable bric-a-brac.
The kantha
embroidery of this state is famous all around the globe. In the past
few years it has received rave reviews and tremendous attention from
fashion designers in the Occident and the Orient. The old kantha
designs are rare possessions and are now flaunted on sleek shawls and
other items of costume. In the village, however, a woman may spend
months and years on a single piece, covering it with intricate folk
motifs via a simple running stitch.
Handloom saris come in an
exotic variety and are available all over Bengal. Brass, metal and
dhokra items are also part of traditional craft. Specially
beautiful are dhokra measuring bowls that come in all shape and
sizes. Bengal’s jewellery has an unique Mughal flavour. Even
wood and stone are fashioned in this State for decorative panels or
items of utility.
The Crafts Council of
West Bengal has done a lot to revive dying forms. However, for a
range of items you can savour or buy, look into the handicrafts shops
strewn all over Kolkata. You can stroll into the state emporia or
walk down Kalighat or Gariahat and the variety of goods will leave
you amazed.
The fine arts scene here
is just as stimulating whether you are interested in the revivalist
trend pioneered by Rabanindranath Tagore or the folk idiom of Jamini
Roy. Do not hesitate to walk into the Academy of Fine Arts in
Calcutta. If you travel to Shantiniketan, Tagore’s hermitage,
you will be able to witness the works of Nandalal Bose and the
stunning sculptures of Ramkinkar Baij that form part of the
landscape. The Kalabhavan there is a good haunt for art-lovers.
WONDER WEAVES
Cotton fabrics spun by
Bengali weavers have become a legend worldwide for their fine
textures and lightness. Known as muslin or mul mul the
featherweight textiles were celebrated in the international market as
the ‘woven wind’ and the ‘wonder gossamer’.
Under royal patronage the
township of Dacca (now in Bangladesh) became the production of muslin
during the Mughal rule. The fabric was so fine and transparent that,
as the legend goes, once Emperor Shahjahan expressed his displeasure
towards the inadequate and indecent dresses worn by Princess Jehanara
even though six folds of muslin covered her! A five metre length of
muslin could easily pass through a finger ring. The marvel of muslins
and of the Dhakai jamdani (needle embroidery), however, ended
in the 18th century with the British seizing control of
Bengal under the East India Company. It is said that to protect the
interests of the textile mills of Manchester, the muslin weavers of
Dhaka were persecuted and coerced to stop weaving. The art-heritage
of fine weaving so remained crippled for nearly 20 years.
However, with the
departure of the British, many skilled weavers of Dhaka gradually
settled in West Bengal around Shantipur in Nadia district and Ambika
Kalna of Burdwan, both traditionally renowned centres for hand-woven
fabrics. Encouraged with government aid and other incentives, these
talented weavers soon revived their ancestral occupationand the art
of exquisite weaving once again flourished. Today, finely woven
feather-touch textiles and saris in exotic designs and colours are
being produced in the vast weaving belt of Shantipur, Phulia,
Samudragarh, Dhatigram and Ambika Kalna—each centre producing
superb fabrics in its own unique weaving style. Dhatigram produces
jacquards and jamdanis while Kalna is famous for tangails and
gorgeous jamdanis. Phulia and Samudragarh specialize in a combination
of jacquard and jamdani work while Shantipur is known for superfine
dhotis and jacquards. The produce is marketed through
co-operatives and various undertakings. The Kalna Chamber of Commerce
and Industry organizes weekly sari haats (markets) offering
the weaving industry as well as individual weavers opportunities to
come into direct contact with customers thus avoiding middlemen and
fetching better renumerative prices. Every Saturday weavers from
different centres and distant villages assemble at Kalna Sari Haat.
This unique market dealing exclusively in saris is worth a visit.
Ambika Kalna is 82 kilometres from Kolkata and can be reached by
train in three hours. The weekly bazaar sits in a large square under
a roof near the town hall. Amidst saris galore are seated the tanties
(weavers) surrounded by buyers. The haat is a kaleidoscopic display
of the finest saris. Prices range from Rs. 200/- to Rs. 2000/- a
piece and above depending upon the quality and labour involved.
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