I A new book on lndian handicrafts might remain the most comprehensive arch ive of the dyi ng crafts of I ndi a, says Jaideep Sen. lhtaqecfrumVarintions of ori.ginalsurahidtsigns byPotters of Haryana (aboue), andadhohradzsignfromAissa(below) Over the last few months, the city's leading "dowry" basket). Thisbook seeks tobe the To understand the effort and the history of gallery owners, collectors and curators have, aadc mecum ofall Indian handicraft practices. some ofthe processes documented in the book, in these pages, conceded the aftermath ofa In it, the Kashmiri crafts of khatumband and Time Out spoke to a handful of people in manifest slowdown in the art market. New pinjrakariwoodwork-withno glue ornails, Bangalore who have made it their concern to shows, in a few deft skokes, have become rare, reside beside soapstone sculptures from revive many of the dying forms mentioned in and the ones that do occur are bereft of Pondicherryand ------ Handmadeinlndia.These viewers. While in terms of remarkable work, and indeed, that experience ofexploring ;,[HXi'f,JS?:f 'A tot of these artforms H:[*i]ffi1'tLH:i1l: exhilarating artistic endeavours that's seemed most elusive and improbable, the odd 3;,1"'#u**'' are dying, simply i'J::1fffi#:li5it$"' luminous show in the city has risked going entirely unnoticed. ffiTflTiJ}.T,:' becausetheyounger $:ii:1fi;,tiXlhandicrarts When a book on the handicrafts of India - likhai ge ne rat io n fee ls the re's completed late last year, but apparently woodcarvings, ffi:ffit,:"#'i,flifi' delayed in production - wound its way to our blockprintsfrom works offine art seem to no income in it,' readily attract? Don't the desks this fortnight, it became another record Machilipatnam "'-"' of the list of things that are dying out - shows, andBikaner's crafts of weavingand quality art, and the art market. Handmade in bhitti chitra wall paintings. Zardozi gold needlecraft, sewing and tatting, weaving and India, editedby the professors MP Ranjan and embroidery from Bhopal and coconut-based needlecraft account for artistic ability? Aditi Ranjan of the National Institute of wares from Ernakulam precede the bamboo "A lotof theseartforms are dying simply Design, Ahmedabad, might dwell upon the and brass work from out of Nalbari. because the younger generation feels there's subject matter ofa hundred other books -the Birbhum's owlish "raja-rani" replicasnod no income in it, although originalll', there was neglected craftsman, but one look into the against Udaipur's kavad "mobile shrines". no intention to pursue them for 3.5kg tome, and any comparison between Nettur peti moneyboxes from Kannur pit earning anything," explained what the Ranjans have achieved and what Dhokra's style of "lost wax metal casting" . Geetha Bhat, who runs the exists on shelves swiftly disappears. The Kutch bandhani tie-and-dye heritage is Centre for Revival of The book is a revelation, as a woven in with kalamkari textiles, Tripura's Indigenous Art.In comprehensive, exhaustively inclusive, and nakshi kantha embroidery and Ladakh's working closeiy with elaborately cross-linked referential effort that khabdan carpets. Thanjavur's glass identifies every recorded regional craft cluster paintings reflect Aranmula's kannadi or across the country. Heard of the painted metal mirrors. This is where names woven palm leaf "dowry baskets" from like jadupatua, ganjifa, patachitra, Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu? They're a thattar, Madhubani and chhau notch smaller than the hamper-sized finally get the kind of the kind Chipkiangbaskets of Ladakh, but not as artful of descriptive space that they as the kophi cane baskets from Kohima (it is a merit. 10 www.tlmeoutbenglaluru.net June 26 - July 9 2OO9 Handmadeinlndia thewomenof theDeevaru community near Sagar, inShimoga district, to promote their form of Chittara art - a tradition that began with women painting the walls of their mudhomes, Bhatsaid shesoon realised the need to evolve the format. At the CFRIA, the geometric Chittara designs are now crafted on handmadepaper, and on cloth. The group also works with a group based inThovali, inKerala, to help carry on a form of weaving garments called Manikyamala, which, Bhat said, traces its roots back to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. "Chittara Paan labyrinth Moradabad's uintage car'shaped betel lz af was actually only about the creativit-v c o n ta i n e rs (aboue), and an artisan in Orissa kighA of theDeevaruwomen," said Bhat. "Butnow, they'reall looking for manner that they're comfortable with, but economic aspects. Most of them don't have slightly more innovative". Eka now works in any kind of access to modern facilities. \orv, three different modes, added Menezes with only because two or three male artists har-e - artisan groups directly, or with NGOs that begun creating a sense of at'areness in the support art initiatives, or with export village, a few others are taking up the craft. who are willing to custom People today choose contemporarv art and manufacturers in modern objects. The biggest problem for us is craft. While a lot of their work the first is from across the country, that there is no as'areness about ancient category sourced ever getting Indian art forms." there's very little chance ofthem discriminatorynew markets, when itcomes to in galleries, Menezes The perspective about bu1-ers. as explained showcased evolving local crafts in order to preserve a byKimiko Thakur \lenezes. rvho runs the acknowledged. kind of practice. Like with the terracotta Khanna explained thather intentions were store Eka in the ciq', onh' 1ed right back to the horses and elephants ofBankura, which at decidedly about reviving a "1ot ofthe old stuff definition. "ln the most naditional sense, some point began to be replicated in wood, and that we've grown up with, but don't see too handicrafts mean crafts that have been taught turned out to be more accessible to buyers, and much of anymore". But in order to do that, she from one generation to the nest. s'ith terl' Moradabad's sheet metal paan daan had to first focus on making the objects more little difference in hori'thev rvere originalll- containers for betel leaves and nuts that got functional, which wasn't an easy task. While designed and perceived, and hot' thel' are shaped like vintage cars, and new "export" attempting to shape the evolution ofa craft, produced today," said Menezes. "That kind of designs ofJodhpur's mojari leather footwear. Khanna admitted that things got difficult, art may not find homes very easilr- todar-. Ultimately, the resultof ourattemptwas, even if the underlying intention was flogging a dead horse' because people are looking for art to keep up confessedly, a lot like ultimately about preserving a traditionai gave us the opportunity to perhaps with the times." Meghna Khanna, s'ho runs Yet, this form. "If you weretotakethepapier-mAchd toast the Ranjans' initiatives, and record a few the store Levitate iterated, "Handicrafts hale a rvorkof Kashmir, to getthemto do something preserve a wealth ofsingular, albeit veryold-world connotation. Itusualll- means efforts to different is not easy in the firstplace, simply dying,skills. the same kind of work that some people har-e because they've been doing it for so many Handmade in h diaby Aditi Ranjan and MP been doingformany, manyyears." At their 1-ears," Khanan said. "It's difficult, because Ranjan, Mapin Publications, Rs 3,950. For stores, both Menezes and Khanna deal in ri'hat thel' maynothavethe designsensibility." To information on exhibitions of handiuafts in is commonly referred to as forms of fusion art, illuslrate herpoint, Khanna spokeof herwork the city, see Exhibitions in Art. essentially combining traditionai crafts, and t-ith women who craft lac jewellery inJaipur, adding a certain modern edge. in Rajasthan: "Itwas like aprojectforme toget "The clientele today want traditional craft, them to work with new colours. They refuse to but they want it with some element of tr1- out different things, like say, to separate contemporary use attached to it," said the regular red and green combinations." The Menezes. "To achieve that, we try design argument that the natural hues were perhaps intervention as one technique, where we work rvhat inspired the Rajasthani forms in the first withanartisan group, and give themour place rvould be resigned to the fact of inputs on how they can upgrade their skills, by appealing to a newer, younger market. And learning newer ways of doing art, and also there's always the initiativeof workingwith incorporating newer designs, and practical NGOs, in Levitate's case with an NGO called usage, which makes the products more user- Stree based in Andhra Pradesh, to ensure that friendly." For instance, whileworkingwitha returns are shared with the local artisans. group inDaryapur, nearKolkata, and the Laden with notes of significance on practice of lost-wax moulding called dhokla, historical, social and cultural influences on Menezes said she found an abundance of "the design and craft processes, briefrecords on same little animals and figurines, and the practical effect on ancientpractices Ganeshas that are so common now that brought about by the emergence ofnewer nobody gives them a second look". What she tools (annotated with references to handed- did then, was to suggest fresh designs, like of down impleme nts) , Handmade in India also the sun signs, for the craftsmen to recreate as makes room to document the result of motifs, "painted in the same traditional production-driven demands and June 26 - July 9 2009 www.timeoutben$aluru.net 11.