Crafts, live

Senior traditional artists come to Mumbai to show and sell.

If you plan to shop at the state government-run arts and crafts shops during the festival season, also visit the Exhibition on Indian Paintings and Ceramics by Paramparik Karigar. This organisation is showcasing five art forms, including pattachitra paintings from Orissa, Gond paintings from Madhya Pradesh, Kalamkari textiles from Andhra Pradesh, Mithila paintings from Bihar and ceramics from Maharashtra and Kerala.

Each art form is represented by nine senior artists whose families have been in the art for more than three generations, says Anu Chowdhary-Sorabjee of the Paramparik Karigar Organising Committee. “We encourage our craftsmen to continue creating their craft, earn a substantial income and motivate their children to carry forward the tradition,” she adds.

Providing craftspeople with such opportunities helps them avoid the middlemen. This has helped artists like Pranab Narayan Das, who started learning pattachitra aged 10, from his guru Arjun Maharana, a National Award recipient. Pattachitra is the art of painting on primed cloth. Das also paints on wooden boxes, often used as dowry boxes for weddings. He specialises in painting in black on Tussar silk.

In April 2011, Chowdhary-Sorabjee says, the organisation will bring in 35 more craftsmen from other crafts forms.

At Coomaraswamy Hall, Chhatrapati Shivaji Museum, Kala Ghoda, till October 24