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Magazine
CRAFT
Woven dreams
SABITA RADHAKRISHNA
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The lives of artisans and the intricate processes of their craft are well documented.
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Paramparik Karigar; published by Paramparik Karigar, price not stated.
Paramparic Karigar, an Association of craftspersons based in Mumbai, committed to promote and preserve traditional Indian Craft recently brought out a book of the same name. The book has been sensitively put together in a bid to recognise five master
craftspersons who have each described their respective crafts — Gadwakam, Kalamkari, Mithila Kala, Mitti Kam and Tana Bana. Meticulous editing that preserves the essence of thought has resulted in a beautiful document with exquisite colour plates.
Intricate crafts
Jaidev Baghel introduces Gadwakam, unique to Central India, delightfully interspersing folk tales with the intricacies of the craft. The Adivasis of Bastar stumbled upon the lost wax method from watching the sataru insect. Jaidev describes the procedure right from sourcing the material to detailed techniques including building the furnace and the final finishing and polishing. The stylised folksy metal images are varied, with icons, ornaments and everyday articles interpreted by the maker’s whims.
A son of Andhra and a man who has received recognition for his works, Jonnalagada Gurappa Chetty attributes the development of Kalamkari to the rivers and the forests that yield an abundance of natural dye plants vital to this art and the temples that were an inspiration to the artists.He takes us from the kalam and other implements to the drawings in charcoal, the dipping in mordant, or application of alum with frequent washing in between.
Gurappa describes how he pressured his graduate son Niranjan to continue with this traditional craft despite his ambition to enter the medical field. He excels as an artist today and is researching constantly on new and progressive methods of innovation.
In Mithila painting, organic colours and brushes are used and the paintings based on religious themes. An important feature is using the double line, which signifies the atma and the paramatma.
Celebrations
Satya Narayan Lal Karn describes the paintings as a celebration of the puranas, of love and marriage, with special paintings meant for nuptial chambers. Flowers and leaves or peels, shed by the trees, constitute the colours applied with cottonwool wrapped on a broomstick like a swab. Karn admits to his fascination with computers and being able to harness the technology to create new designs.
Satya Narayan Lal Karn and Moti Karn trace their early hardship and recall with gratitude how they were picked up first by Pupul Jayakar and later Roshan Kalapesi to become part of Paramparic Karigar. One of their sons initially reluctant to join the parents relented but now draws his designs on the computer!
The Potter’s Craft authored by Brahmdeo Ram Pandit begins with traditional methods of pottery with the wheel or moulding clay with the hands, then moving on to finer finishes with newer technological skill. Porcelain is very popular, emerging from a mixture of china clay, feldspar and quartz with a small percentage of bentonite for plasticity. Clay preparation and the making of objects using the moulding technique have been described in full. Pandit studied the craft of mittikam if only to raise it to its original status. He trained at the Central Village Pottery Institute as well as in studio pottery.
Beautiful weaves
The last chapter, Tana Bana by Snober Mistry, is on textiles without which no book on craft is complete. Mistry takes the reader to the beginning where cotton is transformed into yarn, the implements used for weaving and the various looms starting with beautiful weaves on simple handlooms. You have a chapter on tapestry, design ideas and even a colour spectrum, very lucid and simply written for the lay person with no technical jargon. Handspun and handwoven cloth is not ignored. Unfortunately, despite the wealth of knowledge on looms and the traditional craft of weaving, we are allowing the traditional textiles to slip into oblivion and are losing traditional weavers to industry.
The book is a treasure and an asset to any craft lover’s library. It is hoped that the next book will focus on lesser known craftspersons whose work is nearly as good if not better than the master craftspersons who have been national awardees more than once.
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