Geetanjali Krishna: Giving life to a dead art

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He is an unusual man. At an age when most of his peers were thinking about moving to the city in search of lucrative jobs, Kalam Patua had only a burning desire "" he wanted to revive the long dead school of Kalighat painting that his ancestors had developed. His community, the Patuas, traditionally practiced a popular folk tradition in West Bengal, telling mythological stories through scroll paintings (called pattachitras) and songs. "Some of them began selling religious paintings outside Kali temples, and that's how the Kalighat school of painting came to be born," says Patua. "When the last artist in of the Kalighat school died in 1930, everybody mourned that one of our traditional crafts had died with him," says Patua, "but nobody took it forward." Not until he came forward in 1985, with the aim to rekindle the dead craft.

It was not easy. Patua had no guru to teach him. Neither did he have any patrons to support him. All he had were old paintings, and an inborn talent for art. "I grew up watching my family painting on scrolls and singing songs "" in fact, many members of my community still go from village to village in Bengal, doing this," says he. Later, he became apprenticed to an uncle who made terracotta idols. "As my interest in Kalighat paintings grew, I began to study old paintings, copying them painstakingly to learn their distinctive style," says he.

Today, what fascinates many art aficionados is the fact that Patua uses contemporary themes in his paintings, otherwise distinctly traditional in style. For instance, one of his works depicts a crowded Indian bank, while another is of an airplane crashing into New York's World Trade Centre "" but in both paintings, the traditional Kalighat influence is quite clear. "Even my forefathers in the Kalighat School liked to play with urban themes of their time "" some even painted the everyday life of a typical Bengali babu, for example," says he. Which explains why he also likes to deal with modern subjects, often scenes from the back lanes of Kolkata, where he's lived and worked. The result is quirky, modern paintings which retain many traditional influences. One such influence, his use of newsprint, imparts an interesting patina to Patua's works. "I like working on newsprint as it absorbs colours best," says he.

Two years ago, when Patua's works were exhibited at Delhi's Gallerie Espace, they were extremely well received. Two of his works are on display at the National Gallery of Modern Art, and he has been awarded the Aditya Vikram Birla award for his work. His paintings have also been on the covers of two of Arun Shourie's books and one (albeit without his permission) of Pankaj Mishra's.

Now one of the things that Patua is preoccupied with is to find the time to teach younger people of his community. "I have spent so much time bringing this dead school of painting back to life, I don't want it to die again when I leave this earth," says he. But he doesn't get much time to do this, he says, as apart from his painting, he also works in the state postal department. His son, a class seven student, is also quite keen on painting: "But whether his interest pans out into something more substantial, remains to be seen," says he.

Feted by curators, collectors and critics alike, Patua remains a simple man. "I just love doing what I do, which is to paint, and feel privileged to have been born in a community with such artistic talent," says he.