Celebrations of colors

Patachitra, an ancient folk art of Bengal, was appreciated by art lovers for its effortless
style of drawings, colours, lines and space usage. The world Pata derived from the
Sanskrit word Patta means cloth. The painters are called Patuas. Patuas do not just
paint, they also sing as they unfurl the painting scroll to show it to the audience. These
songs are known as Pater Gaan. The songs are of wide variety ranging from traditional
mythological tales and tribal rituals to stories based on modern Indian history and
contemporary issues like protecting forests and preventing spread of HIV/AIDS. Patuas
generally use natural colours, which they procure from various trees, leaves, flowers
and clays. The art was traditionally confined to men but over the years women have also
made forays into this field.

However, Pingla started losing its luster as lack of recognition and economic viability
of their products de-motivated the Patuas and a sad saga of deskilling where the artists
earn their living by working in the fields as labourers or pulling van rickshaws, resonated
at the village corridors. Only handfuls were acclaimed and patronized by scholars and
connoisseurs of the folk art forms. Further Pater Gaan (songs sung by patuas) has
traditionally been passed down orally and with the demise of the aging Patuas many
songs were being lost for ever. The Patuas who earned by painting Patachitra had little
understanding or cooperation among themselves and priced their products absurdly.

Imbibing new hope into the artists and inspiring them back to their innate vocation
was a challenge ably handled by the NGO since 2004. Bottle necks were identified and
solutions were crafted according to the need keeping in mind the goal. In India traditional
art skills are not considered as ‘skills’, and this result in lack of confidence among the

artists thus making them indisposed towards it. Recognition and appreciation of an
effort is essential for its continuity and better performance. Keeping that in mind BNC
adopted a holistic methodology consisting of: baseline study on Knowledge Aptitude
and Practice of the practitioners; training of the artists in the quality improvement of
performance/ production, as well as in the basic business skills; creation of Self Help
Groups (SHGs) and the opening of the bank account for each of the SHGs; the provision
of health insurance to the artists and their family members. Self help groups formed with
women Patuas who worked in tandem with the male members for rejuvenation of the art
form. Veteran Patua Dukhushyam trained the new generation artists with songs that were
on the verge of being relegated to the oblivion. Horizons were broadened with crafting
new products like painted T-shirts, furnishing, stationery, painted furniture and other
home accessories. Life skill training programmes using Theatre in Development based
methodology gave them confidence to usher in the change towards quality life thrived
upon their inherent skills.

Any work of art remains incomplete till it gets its due recognition and value. Reaching
out to the desired appreciators is the seminal goal of any artistic piece. And for that,
there has to be proper market linkages to reach out to the cognoscente of the entire
world. Incidentally, the Operational Guidelines of the 2005 Convention of UNESCO
also encourage the countries to introduce support mechanism to translate cultural/artistic
expressions into viable cultural industries. As part of its experimental Art for Livelihood
project and with a view to giving direct market linkage to the patuas, banglanatak dot
com organized a first ever Patachitra fair in their own village in November 2010. The
event was attended by over 5000 people and brought to the artists a total turnover of
15.000 USD to the artists in 3 days. Since then, the village receives visitors from the
cities on a regular basis. Encouraged by the popularity, the villagers now maintain the
house and roads extremely clean and show readiness to learn English.

Broadening the horizons, though necessary for promotion of art, calls for building
capacity to appeal to the people with different background, belief and lifestyle.
Improvising the product and implementing the skills in newer mediums through
interdisciplinary projects is a candid approach to reach out globally. POTential and
POT PLANT, initiatives by BNC, did just that for the patua of Pingla. While, POTential
targeted at creating a platform for exchange, assimilation and innovation where the
traditional folk painters of Bengal worked with new media artists from UK, POT PLANT
enabled the Patachitra artists from Pingla and Chandipur work with new media artists
Tony Knox and Ruth Dillon from Planet Art Exchange, Liverpool.

Broadening the horizon is invariably followed by looking beyond it. And Moyna
Chitrakar’s voyage to China to participate in the 6th China International Cultural
Industries Fair held between 12th to 18th May, 2010, only vouches the fact. Patachitra

products were exhibited in a stall there and the artist had a sale of Rs 23,000/-. Patachitra
paintings painted on the life of Rabindranath Tagore were presented by Swarna Chitrakar
and Dukhushyam Chitrakarusing, with their ‘Pater Gaan’ explaining the paintings in
Paris. Swarna went to Paris again in Mar 2011 to open the French festival with her
Patachitra exhibition.

Toady the indigenous artists paint, sing, cook, tend to their children, and meet with the
SHGs. They discuss the problems and rewards of practicing their art, and speak freely
about the social, religious, political changes in the village and the world beyond. Their
wisdom, artistry, and good humour amidst many difficulties illuminate the lives around
them. Mud huts have given way to brick houses with sanitation and electricity. There is
a community resource centre in the village. Village festival held in the village is bringing
urban audience/customers to the villages, in addition to the conventional marketing
support, sending rural artists to attend the urban market. Women are now going abroad
with their object d'art to different melas across the country and abroad. The young girls
are enthusiastic about a much better life that their mothers. The women have brought land
with their savings.

What makes this saga of change and evolution all the more intriguing is the punctilious
efforts taken by the Patuas in harnessing their art to campaign against gender bias, child
rights, new born care, safe motherhood and prevention of HIV/AIDS. Pingla, today, has
resurrected itself to its original patina and can rightfully proclaim to be role model for
the likes of her. Visit Pingla one weekend and witness the collective magic of colour and
cadence- For seeing is believing!!