Beads of lore.

                                           
                                            Aka men in tradzy beads

                                    Women with painted faces in all their finery.

                                        Haggling over bride price using twigs.

Sleepless  roosters crowed, stray dogs barked ,cool winds gusted into the mountains making Nimasow shiver as he sat collecting the ritual items: a tigers claw, a pythons jaw, a crystal quartz and other objects that are a part of a Shaman’s kit. He has a ritual to perform today since the village is abuzz about the spirits being unhappy. The harvest has not been good this year.

Nimasow , as his father before, is the Shaman in the tiny village of Palizi, a rustic hamlet on the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh. He belongs to the Aka tribe, which is one of the last isolated tribes of these hills .They are a community of self sufficient set of people who have certain similarities to other Buddhist tribes of Arunachal. The tribe grows its own rice, vegetables, fruits , rear their own hogs and breed cattle, build their houses on silts and speak a unique dialect. It’s a utopian setting untouched by the outside world where life is still primitive and unengineered.

Nimasow is affectionately referred to as ‘Mucrow’ by his people-a term of endearment and apart from his shaman status, he is well known to have a collection of necklaces of yellow stone beads. Now, the Aka have more than 26 words to relate to the beads. Beyond being objects of adornment, beads are a status symbol and even play the part of currency for purchase or exchange. In one of its varied important forms , it is the dowry parents will give their daughters when she becomes a bride, and men of this village will adorn themselves with beaded necklaces on special occasions to show off their status- as Nimasow today. These necklaces are simply made out of yellow stones that used to be found in the river nearby. But now those stones are no longer found and the necklaces have become a precious commodity that the Aka people have inherited from their elders. They believe these necklaces embody the deified spirits of their ancestors.

When I first saw an Aka necklace, I could see certain design similarities to the prayer beads we Tibetans wear but looking closely I realized that it’s a unique artifact having symbolic representation. It stands for a way of life centuries old. The way our ancestors lived when the world to them was flat and sustainability was got from ones immediate surroundings. There has always been a huge connection between people and their landscape and the beads represent that connection by beautifying and also running the economy of this tribe. At a time when rest of the world is committing ecocide, I sit writing about a tribe where men and nature exist in harmony-a race so precious that I had to document them in my blog so people can read about the Aka tribe and their precious beads.

Raja and his terracotta plates....

After a tiring week of flying I found myself on a train heading to Shantiniketan with a friend. As the defecated city landscape waned, green paddy fields, little huts and nature in all its bounty emerged. It is said Maharishi Debendranath Tagore found the town Bhubandanga peaceful, hence named it Shantiniketan and at a time in my life where peace was what I was searching, I found myself in a town that promised it. As I walked with the rusty red earth beneath my feet, I looked around with immense pleasure in my heart. There were huge banyan trees that had children swinging from it, students cycling on the roads with green foliage all around. I was in Rabindranath Tagore’s haven of art and literature, a precious relic of our Indian history which still survives and carries on the Patha Bhavana legacy of Tagore’s school of ideals.

But this blog is not about Tagore instead about a chance encounter I had with an artist at a studio in Shantiniketan. After taking in the sights and sounds of the famous Kala Bhavan and meeting various young artists who are paving their way into the art world, I was in absolute awe. Here I was meeting free thinkers amalgamating what they were taught with their individual thoughts to create a new impression in the Indian art scene. We were invited to their studio to look at their works. Huge canvases were on display as a testament of the artist’s sweat and hard-work, from tea-stained pixel art to modern contemporary art, all trying to state its creators mind. Bound by the limits of my understanding I started moving through each artist’s station taking in all that was displayed. Then in one corner I saw Mr Raja aka Rajendra Kumar Pradhan deeply engrossed in his work. Holding a brush,his hand steadily moved across his blue painting, I watched him work silently too scared to disturb a man engrossed in his art. Beside him there were certain terracotta plates that caught my eye. Now, images do not change the world, but they certainly provoke reactions in people and I was completely taken in by what I saw--beautiful images depicting scenes from the epic battle of Mahabharata, Maa Durga standing in all her glory, her multiple hands all stretched out radiating ‘shakti’(powerful strength),our Indian gods, goddesses, warriors and demons of yore all sketched and posing in circular plates of clay. I waited as its maker silently looked up at us from his work and stood to greet us with his hands folded into a 'namaste'. I instead reached out and shook Raja’s hand and decided that kriya kalash had to display this artist’s work. We are dealing with artifacts and terracotta plates made by this shantiniketan artist needed a larger audience. So here I am writing about Raja and his painted plates. If my readers like these plates kindly contact us at kriyakalash@gmail.com.    

Dhokra art (using the lost wax casting technique)

                                                (measurements 4' 3")

                                             
                                                    (measurements 5' 3'')

                                              (Dhokra wall hanging)

Making a mound of earth, wax and frankincence paste, Sanjay applies it over  the clay surface. He draws inspiration from his surroundings. Sita, the village belle carrying a pot of water in her head, Radhika, the matriarch standing outside her hut with her child, Tiwari marching to his field with plough in hand or Pintoo and the village band of musicians are all cast into thin still metal figures. The process is lengthy but Sanjay is a master at it, he is a dhokra damar tribesman settled in Burdwan district of West Bengal where dhokra art has found its permanent root of resurgence. With a thread, he then makes a filigree of designs on his pasted models and then burns the clay on fire and beewax. A pot of molten metal (usually brass) is carefully poured by him into the clay cast and left to dry in the sun. After drying, the mould is broken and flawless metal figurines which are miniature imitations of his village brethren emerge.

 Dhokra is an ancient art form that can be traced back to the figurines found in the mohenjo-daro sites of the Indus valley civilization. It has been diminished to a dying art form but in the villages of Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha certain tribes still practice this classical art. Sanjay Karmakar of Burdwan and Rajkishor Shou from Odisha are two such artists who have made this traditional Indian style their livelihood thus adopting the primitive vocation of their ancestors.

Paraja is the first realistic novel I read which describes the predicament of the tribes of Odisha. It poignantly describes through an epic tale the slow decline of a tribal patriarch and his family from subsistence livelihood to bondage to the local money lender. Gopinath Mohanty, a great Oriya literary figure was a government servant and witnessed the plight of these tribes first hand and penned it down his book. From having their land taken away by the government to the migratory lifestyle they have adopted to earn a livelihood...... exploitation at every aspect of their life as urbanity crept in.That is why it’s a wonder that some tribesmen have still retained their art and are trying to make a living out of it. Now, we at Kriya Kalash want to be a part of the resurgence process of dhokra art and bring a purity of intent to the creative commitment of these rural artists by exhibiting their works in our blog.

                                                                                

 If you would like to be a part of the process too and show your support by buying their figurines, kindly contact us on kriyakash@gmail.com  (price on request)

tie and dye (bandini)

                                       Bandini fabric drying in the sun.

                                         
                                  Janis joplin in a tie and dye outfit at woodstock.

                                       
                                          A bandini saree.

In 1967, Michael McClure led the crowd chanting “OM” at the San Francisco’s Golden Gate and started off the “hippie” movement. A movement that pursued the realization of individuality based on the fundamental ethos of being in harmony with nature. A time when power had become all pervasive and there was no ideology left, the youth decided to get back to the core value system that humanity stands for-peace, love and harmony. Never was the Indian connection so strong, hippies grew their hair long, wore psychedelic colorful clothes and conformed to eastern philosophy. Artistic experimentation especially in music was huge but perhaps the most prominent remnant of that generation is their Organically ‘tie and dyed’ colorful clothes.

Now, in western India women have been using organic methods to make their clothes colorful since ancient times. Bandini or bandhej is an art of 'tie and dye’ practiced mainly in the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat. By using simple techniques of dyeing fabrics like cotton and muslin that are tied tightly with a thread, various patterns like Lehriya, Mothda, Ekdali and Shikari are created. Each village has its own unique pattern of dots and stripes made in pink, green, yellow, red by their women in the backyards of their homes.

As I mentioned in my previous blog a visit to Gujarat got me the opportunity to witness women living in a village near Rajkot make bandini fabric. Pools of colored water had fabric soaked in it. Vegetable dyes were being used to keep the process earthy and organic. Unlike the West where tie and dye was used to uphold an ideology on what life ought to be (a gentle nondoctrinaire ideology of peace, love and personal freedom), here in this village that ideology was a way of life. Human beings living peacefully in harmony with nature, sustaining themselves with an ancient art form that enabled their women financial and personal freedom. As I stood there, I remembered college days where I would wear psychedelic tees and flaunt an ideology that I didn’t truly grasp till now. Being a hippie didn’t just mean a hedonistic lifestyle, it was about free expression and essentially a striving for realization of one’s relationship to life and other people. These rural women around me had no idea about the profound impression their simple bandini had made in my mind. They lived a life in communal harmony where basic food clothing and shelter mattered and had no complications of modern life. Promoting their work would give me a sense a pride since I would be adding a tie and dye art form made in India to Kriya Kalash thus allowing me to be steeped in my roots but branching it out all over the place…

If you would like bandini (tie and dye) fabric from India, kindly contact us on kriyakalash@gmail.com

A Small Voice for Tibet

                                  the Singsa clans first photograph in India.

The Buddhist view of moral conduct is that it will shield you like strong armour.

                                                                                                                 Shamar rimpoche.

When momola Pembalama came to visit us during December of 1990, I remember the winter flowing by with her story telling. As she sat on her favorite cane chair, her fingers constantly moving through her prayer beads while she narrated stories of yore, we her grandchildren (some listening and others fidgeting )would be transported to the past tracing the genesis of our Tibetan family(singsa clan)in India. These afternoons on the terrace involved dreamy anecdotes as I sat eating oranges under the mild winter sun. Momola Pembalama would dramatically narrate the long trek our ancestor Thillen Sardar took from Tibet to India carrying only a sack of salt which he would use to barter for grain on his arrival, since in those days Tibet had no currency and traders would barter items like musk, wool, falcons and even salt……. There is no doubt that every  displaced Tibetan family in India and abroad has a similar story of migration because it is not easy transitioning from having a homeland to arriving as a refugee into a foreign land. Like dissipated snowflakes in an ocean Tibetans have sought sanctuary all over the world and the tragedy of not being able to go back to their homeland even after decades in exile is insurmountable.

A horrific image of a burning man running through the streets of Delhi on 28^th march,2012 was published in the papers a few days back. Jampel Yeshi, a 27year old monk decided self-immolation was the only way of protesting against Chinese policies in his homeland. Thirty or more Tibetan exiles have done the same before him. Tehelka, an Indian magazine states that “a document smuggled out of palden’s monastery, lists forced resettlement of Tibetan nomads, increased regulation of religious practice and heavy patrolling of Tibetan-dominated towns as factors in the monk’s decision to self-immolate”. Now, as an art blogger I’ve been advised time and again never to politicize art but for me the questions lie on whether art is functional or just for art’s sake? Should art have a cause attached to it so it can be humanized? In this case YES! The Tibetan cause is a personal one because I belong to this community and I have decided to use Tibetan art in a political context so that it offers a solution. Art can be used to ideologically challenge the powers that be and hope some justice is given, otherwise what is the point? The passage to India has not been easy for Tibetans. They have arrived through the years with nothing but clothes on their bodies and skills in hand. They have started all over again taking up different trades in the hills of Darjeeling and Ghoom in West Bengal , Dharamshala in Uttaranchal, and settlements down in Karnataka. Tibetan artisans, a reclusive art community have had to expose themselves and make money through their craft. Tibetan wood works, thangka paintings, ceramic sculptures and silver jewellery are now easily recognized due to their uniqueness. But there is more work to be done and kriya kalash has joined hands with Tibetan artisans to promote their craft. We are attaching a deeper meaning to the artifacts because this time it is standing up for humanity, freedom, justice, everything that the free world takes for granted. We stand for Jampel Yeshi and all other unknown Tibetans who have lost their lives in some way due to this displacement. Lastly, we stand for Tibetans all over the world struggling to rebuild their lives.

A thangka is a silk painting with embroidery mainly depicting a buddhist deity or scene.

Tibetan artisans are excellent wood carvers, making wooden altars (chesums) and sculptures keeping the religious theme in mind.



If you would like to purchase Tibetan thankgas,ceramic sculptures and wood works, kindly mail us at kriyakalash@gmail.com. prices are on request. you can also look at the following link to view another artifact in our blog.


http://kriyakalash.blogspot.in/2012/01/tibetan-snow-lion.html

Kutch Kraft

                                          saline mudflats

 
                                          Rabari woman in the desert.

                                      A sectional view of their embroidery

Rann of kutch,a vast salt marsh located in the western region of India is perhaps the harshest terrain in our subcontinent. A flat desert of saline mudflats where the earth beneath ones feet is broken and thirsting for water gets quenched seasonally during its summer monsoons. Its vast expanse is filled with standing water and its barren landscape comes to life with bright vibrant flamingoes. Speaking of flamingoes, perhaps that’s how I would describe the women of kutch, tall statuesque figures clad in colourful attires and jewellery, these women give a burst of life to their dead surrounding.

On my road trip through Gujarat this month, gujari women carrying pots filled with water could be seen walking down the roads. Life in the desert is tough, lack of basic amenities, poor health conditions and the recent earthquake have severely affected the tribes of kutch, but women from here are relentless and have made their mark in India with their embroidery skills. An article from TEHELKA (an Indian magazine) mentions “….how the embroidery and craft pieces found in the Gujari outlets in the 80’s was an outcome of successive years of drought and large scale migration, leaving women to shoulder the burden. Traditionally the women of kutch kept embroidered pieces as part of their trousseau but they have been forced to sell them. But middlemen exploited them as tradition restricted their movements….”  It was after reading this article,I decided to visit a section of kutch, so that I could get in touch directly with these women and see their wonderful art.

My search ended when I was asked to meet Binuben by the locals. A matriarchal figure in the village she is a widow with no children and has dedicated her life in helping women of the Rabari, Ahir and Harijan tribes. Despite the nomadic nature of the tribes, Binuben set up an art collective “mahila samiti” in this rural setting enabling these women to make a living out of their embroidery. Some destitute women stayed back with her and are helping with her endeavors while the rest come in seasonally with new handicrafts they have created to sell. Binuben explained to me that her efforts revolve around enabling the women to take control of the production and process, thus making them skilled entrepreneurs where they are in control of selling their handicrafts. She showed me various types of embroideries that women in her “samiti”(organization) were specialized in, which included Rabari, ahir, sindhi banni, mutwa, ari and soof styles. Beautiful intricately sown wall-hangings, chadars (bed-sheets ), covers, cholis (blouses) were being designed. I decided to get involved and do my bit in helping promote their craft, after all kriya kalash is about finding artifacts from remote corners of India and showcasing it. The story of  women from kutch and their craft needed to be told.

On my return journey I couldn’t help reflecting on how Gujarat,the state,is on the move with industrialization taking over, but side by side live the spirits of the nether world, the poltergeist of dead rivers and dry wells….a land of magic with fables of ghostly lights(Chir battis) flashing through its skies. It is here in the Rann of Kutch, impoverished women sing through late hours of the night, after a hard day of labour, jabbing their needles expertly into the cloth making fuchsia parrots, turquoise peacocks and geometric design with mirrors that glitter up their tiny huts. This is the real side of India, a rustic earnest process of creation that people of the world should witness…….

 

                                   Wall-hangings made by women of kutch.


We at kriya kalash wish to help Binuben and the women of her "mahila samiti".If you like their embroidered products,samples on display above, kindly mail us at kriyakalash@gmail.com.Your contributions will be forwarded to them.

make some noise daz!

The words “once an object has been incorporated in a picture, it accepts a new destiny” comes to mind when I think of a tiger imprinted on the wall of a blind school at garcha 1^st lane, dover place..its creator Daryl  Bennett aka Sinna one was perhaps destined to pay his tribute to Kolkata and its old world charm by marking its wall with an art form that is contemporary and very dynamic, a graffiti. As the orange tiger gazes out at the denizens of this city, I cannot help but wonder at Daryls ability to amalgamate the character of Bengal and its greats like Jamini Roy into this artefact. 


It is indeed wonderful that there are art collectives like Asthir (https://www.facebook.com/pages/ASTHIR-Art-on-the-Move/172421812793357) that initiated this whole process. We at Kriya Kalash and the local community of the place where this was held were also a part of this event to back it up and give it all our support.

My first meeting with Daryl or Daz (as his friends lovingly call him) was at a friend’s party. I was immediately enamoured by his boyish charm and goofy mannerisms. Having heard that he is a graffiti artist and works with delinquent boys back in U.K., our conversation revolved around comic strips,  sci fi movies and music. I got to know that Daryl loved the works of Frank Miller, Kev O'Neill, Simon Bisley, all of whom have associated with DC comics. But it was when he mentioned graphic artist Vaughn Bode, Hayao Miyazaki and the movie “AKIRA” by Katsuhiro Otomo that Daryl the artist started to emerge. I could easily juxtapose his “ Transformers  like” robot  graffiti with manga artists from Japan and his childlike cartoon images with Bodes “cheech wizard”. I couldn’t help comparing Daryl’s journey to India as a homage to Vaughn bode who is an apotheosis in the graffiti genre. Now, Vaughn Bode dappled with spirituality and was into mysticism, so there was nothing better than to have an artist he influenced paint his form of art in the land that defines mysticism.

However, Daryl’s connect with India does not end there. He spent his childhood in Kalimpong and has a deep connect with people from this Himalayan region. From sketching intricate Tibetan patterns to constantly showing off his Nepali saying “हुन्छ” and “बिस्तारि बिस्तारि ” was an absolute delight to a girl who always is in a hurry. Almost two decades after he had left India, Daryl had returned to the country of his childhood discovering and reminiscing. He professes to return again and we wish him the best and hope to see him soon. So Daz cheers to you for bringing a little punk and urban style of art into the City of Joy and by the words of Beastie Boys, one of your favorite bands “make (in) some noise”