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Published by monmajhi, 2016-08-02 11:49:01

Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

Arts and Crafts of Bangladesh

498 ART AND CRAFTS


16. Madhusree Dutta, “Alfred Cinema”, ; M.V.Chandrashekhar, “The Big Banner Man”, The Hindu,
08.06.2004,www.majlishbombay.org/www.Rulturstiftung-des-bundes.de/media_archive/
1046784911672.pdf; www.thehindu.com; Don Morrison, ‘Indian Posters Lose Local Touch’, The
Christian Science Monitor, October 06, 2003, .
17. Rachel Dwyer and Divia Patel, Cinema India, The Visual Culture of Hindi Film, (New Delhi 2002).
18. Ibid., 105-110.
19. Ibid., 110-119.
20. Ibid., 119-135.
21. Ibid., 13-14, 105-110.
22. Ibid., 106-109.
23. Madhusree Dutta, op.cit.
24. Rachel Dwyer and Divia Patel, op.cit., 110-119.
25. The author’s interview of Abdul Wahab, (Syedpur 9 July 2005). But it is not known who these Telengas
are and what kind of work they did or where they learnt if from and how.
26. S.Moyeen, a senior artist was born, brought up and learnt painting in Kolkata. He worked in different
organizations from the early 50’s till the communal riot of 1964.
27. The author’s interview of S.Moyeen, (Dhaka 15 June 2005).
28. Interview by the author of S.Moyeen, ibid.; Harimangal Das, (Dhaka: 6 June, 2005).
29. Rachel Dwyer and Divia Patel, op.cit., 110-111.
30. Author’s interview of, S.Moyeen, op.cit.
31. Author’s interview of, Subhash Chakrabarty, (Dhaka, 17 July 2005).
32. Partha Mitter, Art And Nationalism in Colonial India 1850-1922, (Cambridge 1994), 167.
33. ‘Dada Art’ (1947/48) is the oldest organization in Syedpur. But it is hard to name the oldest organization
of cinema banner painting in Dhaka. We can mention the ‘Art House’ of Pital Sur but it did not seem
that he painted the banners on fabric. On the other hand, cinema banners were painted in Mohammad
Selim’s residence located in Rankin Street in 1948. But we do not know whether it had an
organizational structure or if it did, what its name was . But three other organizations were active in
Dhaka in the 50’s which is quite significant in the history of cinema banner painting. The first one was
‘Evergreen’ (1952?) founded by some Mr. Khwaja and artist A.Z. Pasha. Subhash Dutta once worked
(1953-1955) in this organization in Jhulanbari Lane. This organization is extinct now. There was
another organization named ‘Jupiter Publicity’ in the Court House Street that was established in 1954
(a part of this ‘Jupiter Publicity’ still exists as ‘Shilpi Art’). ‘Filmistan’ (a part of this is known as
‘Rupayon’ now) was another organization established in 1958. Mr. Khwaja was its owner .
34. Author’s interview of, Abdul Wahab, (Syedpur 9 July 2005); Ahmed Ali, (Syedpur 9 July 2005);
Mokhsedul Alam Babu, (Syedpur 9 July 2005); S.Moyeen and Mojammel Haque, (Dhaka 15 June
2005); Harimangal Das ( Dhaka 6 June 2005).
35. Nitun Kundu used to paint cinema banners from 1950-1954 in Dinajpur and from 1954-1959 in Dhaka.
Azizur Rahman worked in ‘Minar’ cinema hall of Shantahar from 1951-1952. He worked as a cinema
banner painter in Dhaka from 1953-1960.
36. The author’s interview of S.Moyeen, (Dhaka 15 June 2005).











Translated by Nadia Afroza Zaman, Instructor, American Institute of Bangladesh Studies

12




FOLK PAINTINGS
Nisar Hossain


Late Gurusaday Dutt, who was a pioneer in making the educated upper class of Bengal
conscious of the value of folk crafts and in collecting them and preserving them with
proper care, wrote as follows in the thirties of the last century: ‘… so widely does the
talent for painting and color arrangement exists even now among men and women of
different communities of village Bengal—and not only does it exist to a wide extent, it
is also of so high a standard—that such can rarely be found in any country in the
present days of consumerism.’ [Trans.] Along with innumerable patua artists of rural
1
Bengal, the people of acharya and kumbhakar communities of East Bengal, sutradhar
community of West Bengal and malakar community of both East and West Bengal are
found to be earning a livelihood over the generations through close involvement with
painting. The chief examples of the painting talent of the kumbhakars (potters) are
2
sarachitra (clay pot cover painting), painted patas and chalchitra, karandichitra of the
malakars and patachitra of the patuas and acharyas. Some other things and objects
3
also made by these communities which clearly manifest their talent for painting are
dolls and images painted by the kumbhakars, colored birds and flowers of sponge wood
or pith (shola) created by the malakars and lakshmisara and thikuji or koshthichitra
(painted horoscope) made by the acharyas. Besides these, ‘we evidence the widespread
talent for painting in rural women of all classes of Bengal and its excellence in the
white and colored alpana (painting on the ground) performed on the mud-floor, stools
and water-pots and in execution of colored chalchitra and designs of lotus, etc. on
walls.… As regards drawing skills, flowing lines and rhythmic arrangements
expressive of emotions, these are art resources of a very high standard.’ [Trans.]
4
Patachitra
The Pata and the Patua Community
Paintings created by placing a special kind of coating on coarse cotton cloth to present
narrative accounts are generally called Patachitra. This is considered to be ‘the most
5
excellent and highest form of painting’ among the folk paintings of Bengal.
6
The word ‘pata’ originates from the Sanskrit ‘patta’ which means fabric or cloth. 7
Before paper came into use in ancient India, there was widespread use of painting on

500 ART AND CRAFTS


cloth as a two-dimensional surface. No alternative to cloth as easily available is
8
known to have existed at that time, particularly for drawing narrative pictures on a
large surface and for carrying, displaying and preserving such pictures easily. There is
no mention of silk fabric or paper in the discussion about painting-techniques in
ancient India in Vishnudharmattoram, though pictures drawn on walls, wood, cloth,
and even iron is referred to. Because of its exclusive use as surface for painting, the
9
word ‘pata’ gradually became synonymous with the two-dimensional painting
surface, and, in continuation to that, even today we describe any two-dimensional
painting surface made of any material to be chitrapata. The same history is perhaps
preserved in words like drishyapata, paschatpata, patabhumi, etc.
Patachitrakala is the oldest mode of painting in the Indian subcontinent which is in
currency even today. Due to the influence of the weather, patachitra drawn on cloth
10
does not last for a long time in this country. Thus, no patachitra from earlier than the
15th century could be found. A patachitra entitled Vasanta Vilasa drawn lengthwise
and suitable for keeping scrolled was found in the Gujarat region, possibly because the
climate of that region is a little dry. It is dated to 1451 A.D. (collection of Freer
Gallery, USA), and this is the oldest of all Indian patachitras found so far. However,
11
proof of the existence of patachitra in this region thousands of years ago are found in
the religious myths. It is gathered from the biography of a Jaina Tirthankara that a
monk who was a contemporary of Gautama Buddha and Mahavira (sixth century
12
B.C.), who lived in the village of Nalanda and who was the founder of the community
named Ajivika, would go about begging by singing and displaying a chitraphalaka
(painted slab). Use of the word ‘pata’ in the sense of painting is marked also in the
13
Mahabharata and Katyayanasutra composed in the 5th century B.C. The particular
14
piece of information that Chandragupta’s minister Chanakya appointed a patua and a
snake-charmer as spy is available in the Mudra-rakshasa composed by Vishakhadatta
during the eighth century A.D. One comes to know about traders in yamapata from
15
Harsha-charita composed by Banabhatta during the first quarter of the seventh
century. There has been use of patachitra among the adivasi communities of Bengal
16
and Bihar since ancient times. Many consider these patas of the indigenous
communities as the source of the patachitras of Bengal. Whatever the source may be,
17
there is no difference of opinion among the scholars over the question that the tradition
of patachitra of Bengal is thousands of years old.
In the Bengali language, those who live solely on creating patachitra are called
patuas. But, they have different names, in different regions. For example, in North-
18
west Bankura and Purulia, they are called patidar, and chitrakar in some areas of
Birbhum and Midnapore. They are again known as patua in southwestern Bengal. 19
They are found to be observing customs and rituals of more than one religion. That
means that their religious identities are not well defined. Thus, they are considered to
be very low class people by both Hindu and Muslim communities of Bengal. 20
However, Markandeya, in the seminal book about Indian painting, Chitrasutra, has
opined that, ‘Among the arts, painting is judged to be the most important.’ However,
21






























































































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