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Folk tales are an integral part of any culture. There are various ways in which the tales have been kept alive through generations.  The Patua painters-cum-storytellers of West Bengal in the Eastern part of India are custodians of many such tales and used a Pattachitra as a visual aid during their story telling performances.  The Pattachitra is vertical scroll with depictions of key scenes of a story that are used as illustrative props during the narration, which is a mix of prose and verse.  As the recontour regales the audience with a story, he unfolds the scroll to reveal ea ..read more

Kalighat painting_West Bengal_best friends_lady and dog_ready to frame_closeup Religion and economy are strange bedfellows. While they are intrinsically linked, outwardly they like to pretend otherwise. Kalighat painting or Kalighat Pat as they are locally called originated in the 19th century Bengal, in the vicinity of Kalighat’s Kalitemple. This is around the time that the temple became a popular destination for locals and foreign visitors. This popularity saw a rise in artisans who flocked there to make and sell cheap souvenirs. Made to cater to an egalitarian audience, they have a surprisi ..read more

Craft: Gond painting, Madhya Pradesh Mangali Tekam, Gond Artisan, Madhya Pradesh Mangali’s first tryst with Gond happened after marriage. While she is also part of the Gond community, she grew up learning household chores. Painting was never something that she was interested in. Married to Kaushal, a relentless painter whose speed and determination is legendary even among the hard-working artisans of the community, this mother of three has developed her own style. We have known her for a long time now. And we are happy and proud to notice how her work has developed finesse over the years ..read more

Craft: Gond painting, Madhya Pradesh Kaushal’s interest in painting happened early in life. Born in Patangarh village, Dindori district, he is the only son and the youngest among five siblings. He drove his mother crazy by drawing on the walls of his house using soot from the kitchens. This was also the time that Gond painting was garnering fame through the bold works of Jangarh Singh Shyam. The youngsters from the impoverished village looked up to the stalwart and adopted his style as a means of escaping poverty. Sadly, this tryst ended abruptly when his father, the sole breadwinner passed a ..read more

Craft: Pattachitra painting, West Bengal Laltu’s 100-watt smile is something that can brighten even the bleakest of days. He lives in Midnapore, in a village that is only 100 kms away from Kolkata but takes forever to reach. Part of a Maoist area, this village has no bank or medical facility. The facilities are so dismal that Laltu’s wife, all of 19 years old died due to a fire out-break. They couldn’t get her to a hospital on time. A region prone to such calamities, Laltu took it in his stride. He let his brother’s family adopt his infant son and focused on helping his mother raise their larg ..read more

Craft: Gond painting, Madhya Pradesh The one thing that always strikes you about most uber successful people is their humility. Kalabai Shyam, a National Award is a few notches higher. Born in Patangarh village, Dindori district, and married to a fellow National Award, her stoic face never gives away her stature. A wonderful cook, she always ensures you are well-fed. She could rustle up feasts in a make-shift kitchen set up for one of our projects that required her to stay with us for 6 weeks. Her spicy chicken curry, that turned our ceramic designer David from Scotland turn a deep red is the ..read more

Craft: Gond painting, Madhya Pradesh Suresh is a young talented Gond artisan from Patangarh village, Dindori district. Soft-spoken and shy, at first glance, it is impossible to believe that this master-craftsperson trains 60-70 artisans in his village. However, his fortitude and ability to try out new ideas set him apart. Suresh has worked with us on countless projects and every time, he has shown immense patience in tackling tricky situations and design challenges. Once, he had paint over the same segment almost fifteen times. The colour combinations were not working and with his high level o ..read more

What do you do when you cannot reach the one you revere? What happens when the powerful stop you from practicing your beliefs? What will you do when you do not have the resources to challenge them? Across the world, the answer is revolution. Only that the Vaghri community revolted through art. Thus begins the history of Mata Ni Pachedi. The lower caste Vaghri community wasn’t allowed inside the temples. The upper castes kept them away from their Gods. While the not-so-affluent community could have shouldered yet another blow, they decided to bring the Goddess outside the temple. Mata Ni Pached ..read more

Imagine growing up with a forest in your backyard, waking up to birds chirping, foraging for food amidst nature’s abundance, side-stepping snakes during monsoons, protecting your fields from wild boars, celebrating harvests with the spirit of the Mahua tree, worshipping the Third eye who resides in the sacred Saja tree and hearing the roar of big cats while you are tucked away in your safe bed. This is the life of a Gond tribal, whose home in Patangarh, Dindori district is surrounded by the biggest tiger reserves in the country. No wonder then that the art from here is reminiscent of all these ..read more