Category Archives: Crafts and visual arts

“[I]n a newly independent India […] handicrafts were a source of income and pride. Not only did such skills provide a livelihood locally, but they could become a unique global export.” – Feminist writer Gloria Steinem reviewing “A Passionate Life: Writings by and on Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay” by Ellen Carol Dubois and Vinay Lal Openmagazine (7 April 2017)
https://www.openthemagazine.com/article/books/kamaladevi-chattopadhyay-the-last-teacher
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=20948

“Today, the dual onslaught of commercialization and urbanization, means that weavers are being forced to churn out designs which cater to the demands of the market, rather than those which focus on their folk traditions. However, there is now a growing movement to preserve indigenous identity, and some serious attempts are being made to revive age-old customs, rites and stories by a conscious few within society.” – Ramona Sangma quoted by Avantika Bhuyan in Livemint (1 December 2017)
https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/FR23TDZqwz1hDYOlB5mRSN/Folklore-myths-and-handloom.html
http://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=23691

“During our biggest festival ‘Sorhai’ there were decoration on the walls with flower designs, bird and animal figures. I saw my mother and sister drawing red and blue lines on the walls by climbing on the bamboo ladder. [C]enturies-old traditional knowledge and art of building low-cost-no-cost mud-houses and the related skills and crafts, like wall paintings die out.” – Boro Baski in “Is ‘brick house’ the only sign of development?” (translated from an article in Bengali Anandabazar Patrika, 21 July 2019)
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=29829

“Tagore wanted his students to feel free despite being in the formal learning environment of a school, because he himself had dropped out of school when he found himself unable to think and felt claustrophobic within the four walls of a classroom. […] Thanks to Tagore’s legacy, Santiniketan has managed to preserve Bengal’s fast-disappearing rural crafts culture through folk markets, like the weekly Bondangaar Haat, and rural co-operatives, like Amar Kutir.” – Sanchari Pal, The Better India (31 August 2016)
http://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=21449