Changing rural life of painters: Chitrakars of Nayagram, Pingla

It's been recently that I have come to learn about the scroll-painters from Pingla (potua or chitrakar in Bangla with pot meaning scroll). On an occasion at the IIT in Dec. 2015, I was first introduced to a 'gaan-pot' (a scroll used for telling a story by singing) where a lady from the village was holding long hand-painted scrolls and singing stories sourced from mythology to current affairs (read Manasha Mangal to 9/11 terrorist attacks). She was widely traveled and had been to many countries exhibiting her work. This led me think that it must be worth exploring the craft more - "how are the painters are themselves getting changed as they adopt newer themes, and traveling more than never before?"; particularly, when I stay very close to its origin - the village. Hence, on a pleasantly cool Sunday morning in December 2017, I, with a friend (Amrites), started off for Naya village in Pingla Block of West Medinipur district (West Bengal).

Chitrakar painting a dupatta at Naya Village in Pingla

Getting there

Getting down at Balichak railway station on Howrah - Kharagpur route, it was easy to find buses regularly plying for Moyna. After a 20 minute journey in a crowded bus, we got down at Naya, shortly after Dak-bungalow more (i.e. crossing). A shopkeeper directed us to the painters' colony which is located off the Road, a few meters back, opp. a petrol pump. Village huts with colorfully painted walls welcomed us as we entered 'potua-paara', i.e. painters' colony. 

Entering potua paara or, painters' colony off the road

Starting off with a veteran

The moment we approached the first hut, which had a shaded pavilion with artwork displayed on the wall, an aged person and his grandchildren almost grabbed us, got us chairs, and ensured that we sit with them at the pavilion! He is Shaymsundar Chitrrakar - a well renowned veteran painter. He kept on explaining how students of commercial art regularly come to him, and there lies a difference between folk and commercial art. He picked up a roughly 8" x 6" painted frame (chaukosh pat) which had a man and a lady holding a plant each. He explained that to an commercial artist, the frame contains simply whatever meets the eye. But to a folk-artist, like him, its not complete without the song narrating the benefits of planting trees, and he went on to sing the song. (Unfortunately, the singing part has been facing a hit in recent times.)

Patachitra Museum - a private initiative. It doesn't resemble a natural village setting, rather a crafted one!

Thanking him for sharing his experience, we stumbled upon a building, opposite Shyamsundar's house, which had a board declaring that it's a patachitra museum, open for visitors. The entrance was decorated with a lion's statue and a painted cart-wheel on each side of the opening. We moved in further to find a courtyard where two ladies were painting kettles. The display had a range of crafts from many other parts of the country.

Courtyard inside Patachitra museum

Resource Center

Passing by the narrow lanes with painted walls, we had reached the resource center. We were told that it was being set up by a team from the European Union in 2009. Two years back, the erstwhile single storied brick load bearing structure was replaced by a more permanent two-storied RCC construction built by the State Dept. of Khadi & Village Industries Board, supported by Dept. of MSME and UNESCO (as per a plaque). It is now been operated as a Common Facility Center. A office bearer explained it to us that there are about 210-275 artisans living in 62 resident families in the village, and all are members of Chitrataru Patachitra Cluster u/a scheme of DC (handicrafts), Dept. of Textiles. There is a 21 member committee, headed by three elected heads. 

The center has a gallery on the ground floor, a sales counter, and guest rooms on the first floor. The shaded terrace is used by member-artisans when they need to work on large spreads - which their tiny homes can't accommodate. The center conducts a training program for children (modalities were not clear, e.g. who the trainers were). I wasn't sure about the seriousness and efficacy of such training, as kids usually learn the craft from their parents.

We were handed over a product brochure, a map of the village, a color-chart (explaining how colors are extracted from natural sources). These charts were documented by Banglanatak dot com (http://banglanatak.com/) - the social enterprise which has led the change in this tiny village over years, and brought it the international attention which it enjoys today. It also organizes the annual Pot-maya festival, held every November, for eight years now.

Changing face of chitrakar

Meeting Chandan Chitrakar was quite informative. He and his wife were painting a 12 feet long scroll which, when complete, will be put up on a wall at some office in Rajarhat, Kolkata. He has been awarded at many district and state-level competitions. The next project which he has bagged, has a spread of about 2,000 sqft - a scale which patuas usually do not work upon. As it requires a larger space, Chandan will use the terrace atop the Resource Center; carry the parts and assemble it at the client-site (in this case, Bisva Bangla - the state-sponsored art and crafts complex in Rajarhat Kolkata).

Besides that, Chandan regularly works with an artist in Medinipur who regularly supplies him with projects. Separately, he leads a team of about 30 painters, sourced from his village and others in the district, in designing pavilions in Kolkata City for its biggest annual festival - Durga Puja. This reflects that chitrakars are no more limited to painting scrolls in their huts, and are taking their brushes off to distant places.

Major share of a painter's produce is catered to building stock for craft fairs and exhibitions held in various parts of the state, and the country. Besides that, painters are increasingly bagging large commissioned projects, even amounting to 250 thousand rupees, for which they are even communicating with their clients over e-mail!

Chandan Chitrakar paints with his wife alongside

Gender

Though most of the renowned painters are male, the craft is equally engaging ladies of the household. Rather, only few houses had men working on the craft when we toured the village on a Sunday afternoon.

Generation

Painters seemed to express that their future generations are interested in the practice and are learning the craft, besides attending school and other vocational courses, like computer training. Youth in their 20-s were mostly not visible as we walked through the village.

Changing face of patachitra

Theme

Traditionally, patachitra, or simply pat, were designed to paint a story on the canvas - which was sung by the painter. Themes were drawn from mythological tales of Manasha-Mangal (Manasha or Mansa being the serpent goddess), Krishna Leela (flirtatious play of Lord Krishna and Radha); and stories rooted in painters' tribal origins, thus, depicting wedding of Santhals (Santhal-er biye); or fantasies like wedding of fishes (maach-er biye)!

Today, the painters are getting commissioned to paint a wide range of social issues, such as emancipation of women, afforestation, health care, etc. Even few of them are experimenting with current affairs well beyond the borders of their land, even the country, when they paint stories of 9/11 terrorist attack in the USA, Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris! (I had an opportunity to listen to these two gaan-pats at the IIT, and I found them weird! Why? how? I still don't have answers.)

Chandan Chitrakar's next project is being commissioned by HIDCO, where the latter is interested in the theme of development in the State - depicting the success stories of the present state government. Here, the craftsman and the client- both are developing the theme, together. Thus, increasingly, the patuas are drawing less from their own reflections on the society, but from the crafted view of their consumers. Thus, it may be argued that while on the one hand, rising patronage from such organizations is bringing in more business; on the other, it is transforming the content generation process. Somewhere, probably, a line need be drawn. But who would draw the line, or is any such line necessary, at the very first place? - these are the questions which both the painters and the larger society need to ask today, I believe.

Format

Earlier, patachitra was drawn either as a roll (jorano pat), a wide canvas (areilata pat), or a rectangular one (choukosh pat). Nowadays, the scroll painting style has been adapted to a wide range of products, ranging from apparel (saree, dupatta, and t-shirt), fashion accessories (hand-bags), home decor (cushion cover, bed cover, wall hanging, lantern, photo frame, partition panels, colored kettle, hand-fan). Patachitra can be broadly classified as painted scroll - with and without a song, i.e. pata-chitra and gaan-pat, respectively. 

Lady painting on T-shirt

Diversified products: painted T-shirts

Most (rather all) of the prevailing diversified applications of patachitra painting style have no relevance of the song, as patua won't accompany the product to sing the song! Hence, I doubt, if young painters are even learning the craft of composing songs and conceiving patachitra with its song. Chandan Chitrakar mentioned Gurupada Chitrakar - a veteran in the village - who has mastered the skill of composing songs. Chandan is teaching his kids how to paint, and they even help him with the craft. But there seems to be less (almost no) focus on learning the song, as its not been demanded by the market.

Color

Pingla-styled pat is known for scrolls painted with natural colors (gaach-paata rong) - which are extracted from varied flowers and seeds. Earlier, painters used halved coconut shells as color-pots. We were told that IIT Kharagpur had helped them procure many varieties of plants which were used to extract colors.

Many claim that they are still  using natural colors for the scrolls, but doubts are reasonable. Now, they have largely shifted to acrylic colors and emulsion paints, as they are painting on a variety of surfaces theses days - ranging from paper, board, plastic, terracotta, textile, metal, and wall.

Process

A lady making the initial white patches, which will be colored later

With changed medium, the process of painting must have also changed to adjust to the medium's specifications. While using acrylic colors on fabric, all the basic shapes are first painted in white, and the fabric is left to dry under the sun. Other colored patches are added in the next step. Finally, fine details are added to the objects in black which instill life in the painting.

Banning of mongoose hair brushes has severely affected the practice, as the painters don't find synthetic ones convenient. With the rise in business, most of the raw materials - like paper and colors - are also better available nearby. Some painters source their material from Kolkata - the nearest metropolis. Previously, preparation of the canvas was also different, as the paper was being supported by attaching a layer of cloth from the back. Nowadays, since most of the paintings get framed (to be hung on the wall), the paper miss the cloth-backing.

Business

Patachitra is bringing in business. Almost every household had some ongoing work. Painters' are regularly participating in craft fairs and exhibitions, which means that their physical mobility and exposure has increased. Additionally, painters are getting work commissioned, and receive part-payment in advance. This is bringing in upward mobility of the painter, who is now more financially secure to aspire for a better living condition, a more permanent house, and better education for the kids.

Changing face of the village

The village in itself looked like an exhibition gallery with external walls of every house being painted, largely with animal motifs. It is made to attract visitors and customers. Every house is now more open so that any visitor may casually enter and witness the painter working upon his/her creation. People are highly welcoming, and would insist that you interact with them, since you may be a potential customer. The villagers are no more intimidated by urban elites visiting them, intruding into their homes.

Many new buildings are coming up in the village, as the villagers are shifting from small huts with asbestos roof and mud / brick walls to more permanent RCC construction. This is bound to change the face of the village in immediate future, and might snatch away the village atmosphere which the visitors mostly enjoy.

Houses with bricks and concrete are fast replacing the mud-huts

Reinforcement bars shooting up in the air, declaring that a upper story will be built. Craft and construction - both have met a boom in this village.

It is worth appreciating that the village now has many new toilets (pit-latrines) being constructed. However, the neighborhood has a few unkempt ditches. There is a temporary place of worship, of Islamic faith, at the edge of the village, beyond which there are farmlands.

Another interesting difference was noted as we crossed the unmarked territory of the painters' colony to an adjoining cluster of houses. None of the houses / huts had painted walls. Most of the houses had a tulsi-mancha - a podium having tulsi (basil) plant which is believed to be auspicious to a Hindu, (which affirmed that most of the painters were of Islamic faith). I wonder what sort of relations do the residents of these two adjoining neighborhoods enjoy, especially, given the recent upward mobility of the painters.

Not that every change is good

Tradition vs. contemporary

Surely, the changing nature of the practice and growing attention is being profitable for many, if not all, residents of the village. However, I am afraid, if any measures are being taken to conserve the traditional style of painting. It is bound to change, if there is a pressure to meet contemporary fashion requirements, which change regularly. If the painting style is allowed to change organically, will it get too diluted to be tagged as non-authentic? Which is the threshold level for experimentation with new motifs and patterns, beyond which it will start losing its own identity?

Chhota Bheem - a popular cartoon character in Hindi TV series - painted on a wall

The stag being painted on a wall indicates an external influence in design, as it doesn't feature in any traditional scroll.

Cultural products like handicrafts and paintings are media of cultural expression of the painter or the artisan, which he/she draws from personal and communal life. If the painter is required to paint things beyond his cultural realm, will he be able to enjoy doing it? What will be the fate of these painters of Naya? Will they be able to retain their own distinctive style, or get replaced by many others who might replicate their style? What is the threat from possible replication in printing? Shall one examine the case of Naya in conjunction with similar other craft clusters spread across the country, e.g. Bhujodi in Kutch and Raghurajpur near Puri - which have turned into museumized villages - staging crafted rural artisanal lives - for those tourists who would bring in revenue?  - these were some of the questions which were hovering over our minds as we left the village, and waited for a bus to take us back to Balichak station.