so in this lecture we are going to focus on
the possibility that is shifting the existing
paradigm for folk art to ensure its sustainability
for a longer duration in this context we must
first focus on the existing plans and policies
that we are going through and apart from shifting
the paradigm and then slowly try to justify
the alternative mediums as we talked about
the alternative context now it is very important
to see whether we can change the medium and
cope up with the demands of today's time as
we discussed in many instances that what can
we give to the newer generation can we bring
the older tradition and show them the same
thing over and over again is it possible to
show the traditional performances and proliferate
the cultural knowledge to the new generation
uh through folk and minor art and the kind
of performance that it involves or is it really
possible to include that in our regular lifestyle
which has changed to a large extent so when
the lifestyle is not surviving or altered
the older one is no more then which is tradition
because what is happening today is also making
another tradition and there is no contradiction
as such so every day we see that the tradition
is getting added and anything as we say that
everything changes with time and nothing actually
dies it only changes it is like we get a new
form to it so rather than entering into the
philosophy let us see like what are the policies
and other things that we are able to find
out from the available information so folk
art forms that survives in the particular
lifestyle that becomes its context if taken
out and placed against a different situation
that may act differently and that will result
in delusion of its essential language having
been lost in translation so when we look at
altering the context there are many other
things that comes into the scene in terms
of the policies that we make
so i will just talk about one particular instance
where it was published in august two thousand
thirteen page four uh of the epaper hindustan
times kolkata version seventeenth august so
there it was written that government to create
art village for patachitra artists it is said
in the report that the art galleries has many
as many as sixty five houses a museum for
patachitras and a retail outlet all these
things are going to be set up in naya village
and the work is still on and it is happening
in a rapid motion so guest house for tourists
the beautification or renovation of all houses
in the village electrification of the village
roads renovation of water bodies and the entry
gate to welcome the tourists this is how the
state tourism department wants to develop
naya village in west midnapore district in
west bengal and destination for lifestyle
tourism is planned there that is converting
the informal segment to a formal sector as
a government policy so this is fine the kind
of initiatives because naya gram is still
a little out of reach it is very difficult
to reach there through the conveyance are
not really up to the mark uh but then again
according to k g subramanyan this can be read
or interpreted as an effort to create a cultural
pocket what about the naturalness how to uh
preserve the natural growth of a culture as
we wondered that whether we are putting them
into a artificial surrounding or are they
growing in a natural surrounding as such so
bringing artists to different art styles under
the same umbrella in workshops also shows
this kind of a risk that within the country
and abroad they come and they participate
in different workshops now they mix with each
other so that way when we say that they are
in risk to survive in cultural pockets uh
these are good platforms where they come together
and they work at the same time uh when they
come together they appreciate they critically
look at the other styles that is there but
it is often seen that the artists are very
particular their own style
for example the odisha's patachitra painter
bibhu maharana he told me into a personal
interview that he often sees madhubani painting
with great appreciation but he knows that
madhubani painting does not have angularity
into it they are very organic and linear very
free flowing uh that is not the characteristic
of odisha's patachitra painting so however
interest he takes in that artwork he likes
it but he doesn't practice that or try to
combine that particular style with his own
traditional um training because of the fact
that he knows these are the two different
kinds of expression uh in terms of the elements
and it follows two different principles of
execution of forms so the making of the forms
are very different in these two things that
is giving them some distinctive identity and
the artist is very very aware of that and
it is a decision from his side not to experiment
too much to combine them and come up with
a style that can become very hotch potch and
confusing for the viewers so these are the
individual understanding there are also kind
of policies into different state so that but
that has happened into the sector of craft
where they were very particular in preserving
their culture into the small periphery so
this is how the scene is
so bringing artists to different [plat/platform]
platform like from different places to a single
platform that is one endeavor that is done
many a times uh then the cultural policies
of the government in the post independent
era primarily looked to the economic viability
related to traditional art and crafts keeping
their worldwide popularity in view they kept
traditional art and craft under the government
of ministry of industry trade and commerce
to begin with the ministry of culture supports
folk art at present the research findings
show that there is certain amount of in discrepancy
into the execution of policies perhaps due
to the complexities of the artistic drive
that the artists are having for example in
gurusaday dutta museum kolkata that has a
significant collection of folk paintings that
is right now coming under the purview of the
ministry of textile because of the fact that
there are certain textile examples the bengal
katha that are preserved there so instead
of coming the ministry of culture they are
still coming under the ministry of textile
and which is not doing much good to them it
is not identified properly so it's its not
issues are very subtle and intricate and it
has to be addressed by the researcher and
taken proper measure for it so the reason
is that they hold a large collection of the
age old katha sketch embroidery that was identified
by stella kramrisch long back it is something
like you know they were not able to support
a good maintenance and support which is for
its conservation and restoration because the
kind of support they are getting that is more
suitable to preserve the textile works not
so much for the paintings so this is very
unfortunate in instance
then the culture society and the religious
complexity that is another factor that we
discussed uh and that has to be addressed
as another issue that is making the entire
fiber much more complex the theme of folk
art not always drawn from religious means
there are some that are derived from the social
scandals the crime stories the real life incidents
and many other secular factors with comments
on social value system and its decline in
modern life modernizing as a purpose of certain
creation and these paintings gave it gave
its makers the artists the different status
in the society as painters cum balladeers
so they are involved into the into conveying
the social messages as well as uh talking
like working as a pure artist who are free
with their artistic uh expression so it is
a different kind of life where somebody is
into the society working for the society and
at the same time they are not into the rigid
norms of the society so they enjoy a very
different status the syncretic culture and
religious plurality to put them midway between
hindu and muslim in many context specially
in bengal possibly because the wealth and
power the area where the it was in the hand
of the different religious groups that came
by turns they often have both hindu and muslim
names and observe both customary rites perhaps
to uh secure their acceptance to different
households from both religions because it
is needed for them to be accepted by everybody
the community often goes under fundamentalist
pressure from all sides to conform to one
or other religious group and that is also
very crucial till date so these are the experience
shared by many people that i am expressing
here
so the charm of folk narrative painting lies
in the exclusiveness where not two works are
similar in spite of the same subject matter
and episodes break ups that is actually mentioned
by k g subramanyan in one context where we
see that even when a single painter is working
on a single theme there also we see so much
of variation into their creation so there
is no point in thinking that it is getting
stagnant they are not identical at all they
have some commonality in terms of the outer
look but inside they are very uh like very
dissimilar to each other to give it that kind
of an expression each time they are executing
it and it is also very unfortunate sometimes
to see that when the art works because of
its market today is getting widespread they
are picking up the thing it's like depending
on the market uh and when they find the good
market they are into mass production and most
of the time the kind of work that they are
producing are very fine and intricate but
there is no expression that is there so the
soul of the art is missing in many points
in fact when we read about the kalamkari of
shakuntala ramani she makes the same comment
that the art is losing its soul because its
its something which is very subjective very
fine to understand that where because of repetition
if we do not consider it as the way of expressing
our ideas these are nothing but the visual
representation of ideas then there are chances
that it may become very repetitive rigid mechanical
and that may die untimely death from that
perspective
so from there we are now entering to the topic
of the need of the paradigm shift so there
was a time when cinema as a mode of popular
entertainment largely took over the culture
of folk narrative oration and painting and
the folk painters out of desperation began
to move to different professions but off late
there is a realization that bought back the
culture this time it is more responsible in
a conscious way it is not that they are coming
back leaving the cinema or any other medium
but they realize the importance of folk art
and they saw it from a very different perspective
so it is no longer an alternative of cinema
cinema is viewed from a very different perspective
the other the theater the other things and
every other medium is finding its own cultural
identity so folk art specially the patachitra
paintings the narratives there had been a
time when it was slightly confused in a state
but slowly it has come back and realized in
a very different perspective which is very
positive and then that we also discussed earlier
that this is all about you know a practical
effort to the field is explored to shift its
traditional paradigm to reach the need of
the society so i will again quote k g subramanyan
that what is at the bottom of the interest
the fact is that between the visual image
they present and their narrative singing the
part or the special kind of communication
art they could be called the comic strips
of bengal village presented with a live commentary
so the traditional process of making quote
khatam hota hai uske baad the traditional
process of making artworks involves preparing
the color preparing the brushes and preparing
the ground on cloth or paper or any other
surface the practice confined to the village
has always drawn sources from nature over
commercial materials but with the growing
demand of the method and material are not
restricted to natural sources any further
for all the practical reasons we are getting
acid free papers which gives us better longevity
so it is good for the buyer who are buying
and trying to preserve it for a longer time
and also the colors that are available in
the market are very convenient to use so why
not shifting to that and incorporating that
into the folk and minor art also when the
artists are exposed to all these things they
are affordable and they are doing it so also
the commercial product ensures durability
a culture is bound to acclimatize to new .1
circumstances but needs cautions not to fall
victims of empowered technology and that may
cause improper aesthetics to yield from that
so the new medium of execution if explored
carefully and restrictively may prove to be
quite beneficial and the other way it may
also uh lead to danger so kalam patua for
example stated that he painted on paper that
was used for printing newspapers that is the
newsprints that are available in the market
and found the experience very satisfying because
it has a blotting tendency to it the papers
are low in price has the right capacity of
absorption and very supportive of his style
of painting but later he shifted to acid free
archival paper as the former hardly had any
longevity and his paintings are on high demand
his paintings are sold to customers all over
the world now in good prices and thus he should
not compromise on the quality of the material
which is the practical side of it
the late channo devi the pioneer of godna
painting in madhubani coated cow dung on the
paper as a base and used extracts of flower
leaf and seeds to paint her style of painting
is being carried over by many of her students
and follows uh but her works need thorough
restoration as they are losing their luminance
over time they are almost disappearing the
kind of material that she used moyna chitrakar
is instrumental in demonstrating her ways
of making paints to the visitors and at the
same time she cherishes her experience of
working for printed books and illustrations
so this is sita's ramayan by moyna chitrakar
this is this can be called as a paradigm shift
from her painted scroll to a form of a book
which is also designed with careful effort
with samhita arni and moyna chitrakar they
worked together on the script and their paintings
are mostly done by moyna and sita's ramayan
is an imitative from tara books
so this is the first paper where it shows
very good texture which is connected to the
story so it's the sea that is all connected
to sita's life that was the only barrier that
put her away and then in the next page it
is very interesting how the characters are
all introduced of course in this script when
the patachitrakars they speak about all these
things we have seen that they often introduce
the characters to begin with and then the
story starts and in ramayan that's hardly
needed but see how it is designed in the book
so this is just an alternative of the existing
ramayan where the script is translated into
english and the story of ramayan is told by
sita it is her version of ramayan and everything
is translated to fit to the new text so this
is how sita's ramayan begins and the story
goes on so it is like from a vertical scroll
to a book a picture book a graphic novel which
is very well designed by the designers of
tara in collaboration with moyna chitrakar.
so this is how it goes the paintings are same
as moyna's other paintings and we can see
that there is one sound effect dhadak that
is the dugdugi and the beggar comes there
sita is wondering that why i am taken by this
one we can see in this picture that sita's
ear is slightly larger it is a very interesting
expression so we can see in the picture that
sita's ear is much larger for this frame this
is an amazing expression that she is alert
and she listens to the beggar who is playing
the dugdugi that instrument and asking for
alms and it takes her out of the house and
that was the matter of great regret for her
she makes the mistake and then finally she
is captured by the demon so the kind of drama
that is there with the dialogs it is just
an alternative and perhaps it has more appeal
and convenience for today's viewer to understand
the story because the dialect is uh a translated
dialect and the entire frame is rich with
the traditional aesthetics and it is another
version of complete ramayan from sita's eyes
so another very recent example where i talked
to bibhu maharana he said that devi art foundation
in the for their project they approached him
with a question that was actually asked to
many artists but it is from his perspective
he said this is the first time i was approached
to uh work on my dream project they said you
do not worry about the fund you write a proposal
what is your dream project what would you
like to work if you are supported uh by some
funding you write about it and if it is approved
you are going to get the fund readily so uh
he said that he connected the thing he just
picked up the local boats that uh like you
know it is like raghurajpur is the part where
it is a confluence of the sea and the river
and the boats are a symbol of that place and
he wanted to paint to entire the entire boat
and also make a wooden character standing
on the boat entirely painted so he painted
the entire thing on a different surface from
paper and cloth he shifted to a wooden surface
that is also a three dimensional surface it
is not a flat surface so this is something
that he experimented and he also said that
i make sure that i am using the right quality
paper and the material and the quality of
the material should be good and one artist
has every right to demand that when its available
so the recent example of converting the narrative
oration based on art forms animated films
by nina sabnani she has contributed to the
revival of the kaavad storytelling of rajasthan
which was popular as an oral tradition in
the region of mewar and marwar those who have
visited the marketplace of udaipur must have
come across the site of the folk performance
where the narrator unfolds the portable wooden
shrine with multiple folded panels as they
recite stories based on genealogies of their
commissioners and we talked about it in the
phad painting the discussion of phad painting
in our earlier lectures so the formation of
such artworks is based on multiple aspects
it is not only the painting but the making
of wooden shrine as a prop and forming a narrative
oration that is engaging enough to hold the
audience during the performance to give it
a completion an animation film in this case
is an apt alternative of this medium to expose
the art forms to a larger audience so she
did that her works available in internet and
of course from the regular direct sources
she has also illustrated many books and tried
to it was more like an endeavor to preserve
the culture and revive it altogether by giving
it alternative paradigm so while initiating
a change in the existing medium one must work
with great responsibility to examine and understand
the context of the art form so the expert
should be involved into the uh project so
that then it takes the right route because
there are always risks of distortion so the
salient features that is indicative of its
identity the form and content that determines
its style and the way it communicates to its
recipients the folk art forms we often encounter
over glorification and propogative tendencies
that are connected to its essential humor
so as we saw in sita's ramayan that one of
the ear of sita is slightly exaggerated just
to indicate that she became alert by listening
to the noise that is coming out from the dugdugi
or the instrument that we usually see in Shiva's
hand and that was in it was the jogi ravan
was in disguise of a jogi who was playing
the dugdugi he approaches in and she reacted
to it so those exaggerations the expressionistic
qualities that makes it very enriched
so what we see that this is also very important
to understand in this context that there are
two things we are coming into that the art
forms being intrinsically connected to the
ethnic route are rich in indigenous flamboyance
indian modern art has drawn influence from
folk art and successfully rebuilt its ethnic
identity that is one thing because it has
some expressionistic qualities into it the
rendering the exaggeration of form the simplification
they are so spontaneous in primitive tribal
art folk art and all these categories that
the artists of the mainstream were drawn into
it from time to time and today it is like
we are standing in one part where we are trying
to rename them to some terms so that it gets
its appropriate identity so a structural and
semiotic approach of [experi/experiencing]
experiencing the narrative physical and ethical
and also the visual contrast of folk paintings
have always benefited the viewers to realize
its situate in the contemporary cultural milieu
for a very long time
so we will try to see that with the two of
the examples as we say it is a paradigm shift
so there are new endeavors where this the
wooden shrine that was made by the phad painters
that we talked about the kaavads in the form
of kaavad that was very common that we bring
the shrine it is like a portable temple that
is coming to the marketplace to the public
place and there are people who are going and
getting the hang of that shrine where there
are many doors that will open and each door
will unfold a new sequence of the story and
that is very popular now there are very few
people now who would go and spend time looking
at those narratives and other things they
will do it occasionally but kaavads are being
made into smaller forms and we are bringing
them into the houses for decoration and realizing
its cultural value
now i will show you a very recent product
by tara books where they have picked up another
tradition named mata ni pachedi which is from
gujarat and as we know that the tradition
it had the combination of block printing and
printing so the basic drawings are drawn in
blocks by wooden blocks one carves it out
and prints it and after that they fill up
certain areas with the colors which is similar
to kalamkari the dyes now this is one tradition
which died because of many different reasons
and specially after the earthquake it just
happened that you know during the after two
thousand all these people they shifted to
the main city of ahmedabad and they are finding
it difficult to carry on with their tradition
so i will just show you the recent endeavor
by tara books how they have changed the paradigm
to uh very subtle and limited extent and they
have come up with another version of it in
the form of the limited edition print so it
is printed in limited edition to maintain
the value everything is hand printed and done
by the artists themselves and i will show
it in the physical form so this is the recent
product by tara books made by jagdish chitara
in collaboration with many other designers
so the cloth of the mother goddess mata ni
pachedi beautifully packed product that adds
to the value 
a detailed description is written at the back
that it is designed to invoke premodern particularly
asian traditions of book making this cloth
book has been handblock printed on textile
panels each book is an original piece of art
which recreates a ritual indian textile art
from known as mata ni pachedi traditionally
the motif cloth is made by the underprivileged
bhagari community of artisans from gujarat
for their equally marginalized clients worshippers
offer these images to their guardian goddess
to Herself so they are in essence cloth shrines
gifting a piece of creation to the creator
is considered the highest form of worship
this poignant practice by so called lower
caste mirrors a sublime and universal conception
of the power of art that the great leonardo
da vinci himself describes when the picture
which represents the divine deity are unveiled
the vast multitude of people who are here
flock together immediately posturize themselves
as worship and invoke those such pictures
represent that they may regain their lost
holiness and win eternal salvation just as
if the deity were present in the flesh this
does not occur in any other art or work of
man therefore it appears that this deity takes
a greater delight in being worshipped in that
rather than in any other semblance of itself
and by reason of this it restores grace and
gives salvation leonardo da vinci the book
on painting the cloth of mother goddess takes
the viewer from the image to the story behind
it and in companion by a by a short film on
the artist and his artistic tradition that
makes it complete so it is a limited edition
work they have five hundred edition this is
the three forty seventh edition of it that
i am displaying here
now what we see here is a simple version of
a shrine so it's done in a paper just by the
change of the medium this is getting its identity
how the shrine opens its doors and the back
i will just read a little bit i cannot resist
it one day people wake up to find the things
are going very wrong they are surrounded by
hardship drought illness and death why has
this misfortune struck them in desperation
they seek out the shaman the shaman tells
them that they are living their lives in emptiness
they have forgotten the most important thing
to honor the mother goddess he advises them
to appraise her by creating and offering her
an image of herself and all other details
are there in all its pages it is coming with
another booklet from ritual art to cloth book
the detailed awareness of the theme it is
about the artist jagdish chitara the tradition
about the book the universality the universal
appeal of it form and material about the film
that is shared in 
process and labor then the block making the
detail of the block making is there the handblock
printing sewing case making and screen printing
and everything that it involves this is a
beautiful cover where it is a proper block
and combined with silk screen 
and then comes the actual shrine 
the typical tree motifs in the complete form
ok
so the reason why i demonstrated this was
to give you one example uh which is coming
a whole lot of thing that we have been discussing
that how to preserve the cultural knowledge
preserve traditional knowledge it is almost
looking at it from the perspective of knowledge
preservation where we are preserving the thing
in terms of their knowledge information as
well as to its basic ethic so it's only the
change in the use of material may be from
the block it is coming to the silk screen
prints for better longevity for convenience
at the same time it is maintaining its spirit
that this is going to have a limited edition
and after five hundred editions it is not
going to be available any more so it makes
it all the more important to preserve it for
long anyway i will also read out quite a few
things uh in this context as we discussed
earlier
