Bengal crafts set to be revived

The Indian crafts industry, which is currently struggling for existence in the absence of financial support, is likely to be revived if efforts by the Crafts Council of India (CCI), voluntary organisations and educational institutions take shape.

While, in Europe and North America, the view is that the future must be handmade (for economic, environmental and social reasons) India is yet to articulate a craft future in a realistic, practical way that respects not just the issue of cultural identity but, equally, the force of Indian crafts in the economy.

According to Kasturi Gupta Menon, president, CCI, the crafts sector is one of the most decentralised and unorganised sectors in India without any strong association to put forth its demands.

"A number of crafts forms have disappeared due to lack of attention and proper funds to promote the sector. Product diversification and proper marketing are needed to support rural craftsmen as well as to make this industry survive," Gupta Menon pointed out.

To begin with, CCI is organising crafts fair in different states to showcase art forms of all its 14 regional councils. It is also trying to revive the industry by helping craftsmen market products through retail chains and exhibitions.

CCI recently inaugurated its first retail outlet in Delhi, christened 'Kamala', and is planning two more in Hyderabad and Chennai by the end of this year.

The huge demand of rural crafts in cities could be measured by the success of CCI's first outlet in Delhi, which at present has a monthly turnover of close to Rs 10 lakh, with a profit margin of 20 per cent in each product, informed Manjari Nirula, president, Delhi Crafts Corporation.

Among educational institutions, XLRI Jamshedpur has come forward to uplift this art form.Parichay.co.in, a portal envisaged by six first-year students of XLRI, would link the tribal artisans with the mainstream market and provide them a platform to reach out to connoisseurs of art across the world. The website is aimed at bridging the gap between the tribal artisans and the mainstream market.

This would make tribal handicrafts from the rural areas of Jharkhand available at the click of a mouse. As per plans, the proposed interactive portal, which is almost ready, would have separate sections for different handicraft items. The website would also have provision for online booking and purchase.

The tribal handicrafts which have already been added to the list are dokra models, grass mat products and terracotta figures. The XLRI students are in talks with several NGOs across India to link tribal artisans to the project, which would soon be taken to a pan-India level with tribal handicraft products from all states on display on the portal.

Again, in West Bengal, the Crafts Council of West Bengal (CCWB) is trying to develop the craft of making lacquered items popular and saleable during the Durga Puja celebrations, the biggest festival in the state every year. Lac dolls of Bengal, originating from Midnapore, now almost an extinct art, was revived by the CCWB.

The dolls are small ritual or animal figures, two to six inches in height, simply styled in baked clay and hand coated with lac using bright red, black, green and yellow colours.

In a puja pandal, in the interior, the scenario was almost akin to a design development prototype show of lac dolls. One of the attractions were Lac coated images conceived by a local artist in a very simple folk form Lac dolls from Midnapore representing Durga as the fertility goddess.

The entire decoration was made with lac dolls of different sizes. A number of elephants, horses, riders, owls made three to four feet high in bright colours were examples of how this craft can be used effectively in contemporary homes.

Eco-friendly products for decoration in pandals using bamboo, grass, date palm-leaves with various weaving techniques adapted from the tribal culture were evident in many places. Quite a few structures were made of actual terracotta tiles which looked like the brick temples of Bengal.

Some pandals were architectural examples of tribal dwellings using the same material whether from north Bengal or the North Eastern states. CCWB's scroll painters were engaged for painting the wall space all around. The Fauzdar family, known for making Dashavatar playing cards, also had a role to play in this.