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Kumar
Sharat
credit:
Photo
by Meera Mukherjee
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by Nandalal
Bose
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SUNEET
CHOPRA
The Folk
in Modern
Art
bards,
mountebanks,
bear-trainers
and
eunuchs
as "Indian cul
hand-clapping
parading
and other
ture" in Washington,
Paris
Moscow,
When
the "festive"
years
capitals of the world during
of Mr Rajiv Gandhi, we had come a long way from the days of that
and cajoled
artists like
He who had coaxed
other Mr Gandhi.
and
connoisseurs
architects
like
Mharte
and
Nandalal
Bose,
Gulati,
to come together, and direct their
the
creative energy towards serving
village people, and accelerating
had
movement.
Whereas
the Mahatma
the success
of the national
of the folk arts like Mukul
Dey
Gandhi's
vision
and to amuse
the
was
glitterati.
and he sought the raw material for this
the grass-roots
upwards,
an
In March 1936, when he proposed
from our vast rural land-mass.
with
Lucknow
Con
be
held
the
on rural crafts to
exhibition
along
gress session,
he wrote:
Muse
session
of being revived.1
at
of folk art and rural industry was mounted
and
the
with
Nandalal
Bose
the
of
Congress,
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Bose
Nandalal
by
Chaitanya:
of
Birth
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SUNEET CHOPRA
architect
/ 67
Mharte
who
taking on the main burden of work. Gandhi,
the
scenes
at
this
took
a
behind
largely
Congress,
special
in the exhibition
and inaugurated
it on 28 March.
He
remained
interest
congratulated
has lavished
spending
A few days
to visit the
later, on April 12, he again called on people
that it is "not a spectacular
exhibition, commenting
show, but a kind
that the miracles
of fairyland. But our tastes have been so debased
before our eyes appear
happening
trifles coming from abroad become
like so much
dust
or clay and
of art."3
exquisite
pieces
Gandhi
During the winter of the Faizpur session of the Congress
wanted the exhibition of folk arts and crafts to be the chief attraction.
Nandalal
When
and I know
Gandhi
Bose
was
hesitant,
little of architecture
saying,
his objections.
When we examine his instructions
venue
of the Faizpur,
and later, the
the
constructing
he states that while the stress was on what was
Congress,
overruled
for those
Haripura
available
for reproducing
for the .electrification
of
In fact, he specifically
called
even though he knew that the villagers would not be able
He appealed
for
for quite some time afterwards.
to get electrification
an innovative approach
to our folk tradition; and in this his choice of
backwardness.
the venue,
Nandalal
This
worked
most appropriate.
out by a student of his, Bon Behari
mills of Ambalal
as chief artist in the Calico
Bose
Ahmedabad
helped
was
is borne
of the Faizpur
with the exhibition
at the time
Nandalal
Bose
Congress,
there.
Ghosh,
who
in
Sarabhai
and
who
had
started with works in the pat (Bengal folk) idiom but after
that he emerged from its influence. He broke with its conventions and
Nandalal
retained only its structure. In this he was very different from Jamini
Roy. Take his masterpiece, The Birth of Chaitanya: the treatment of the
house, the simplified trees, the contrasts, the use of dabs of colour
they are all reminiscent
tions.5
innova
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The Vegetable
Cutter: by Nandalal
Bose
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SUNEET CHOPRA
/ 69
Here then, we have the synthesis of folk and modern are that was
to develop
over the decades.
The treatment of the hut and the trees
is that of the Bengal pat, while the general architectural
scheme, of
the walled courtyard and a balcony-like
window
remind one of the
schools
of
miniature
The
Rajasthani
painting.
rough and ready
pointilliste treatment of the sky and other spaces, on the ground, on
the walls,
and even
return us to the
figures
others.6
Nandalal
takes
each
up
stress
and
explains
its effect on
the
on tradition,
"Art, solely and wholly dependent
process:
stiff." Here we see a break from the past, where both
creative
becomes
tradition
and
patronage
Then,
had
prevented
he recommends
construction,
the European
'academic'
"the totality by way of a detailed analysis,"
stating that "the mind is
It is not an
the artist and not the eye" and that "art is creation.
of nature."7
He felt imitation
in the development
of modern Indian art, the folk element is essen
it is not the only element nor even the
tial as a part of tradition;
dominant
one.
Certainly
not envisaged.
it is to his
However,
the revival
before
was
training
successful
and
in folk-art
that
Nandalal
Bose
innovative
workthe
his most
Haripura
as
the
In
terms
of
the
use
of
these
wall-decorations,
images
posters.
restriction of material used, including
colour, to locally available
ascribes
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70 / India
International
Centre
Quarterly
I had once done some practice in Kalighat Patait was after all not a
waste of time. I reaped its fruits at Haripura Congress. What I drew
there was just a playful extension of the Kalighat
Pata.9
is, however,
that gives
the linear
commonplace
the Haripura
formal
were
joined
qualities,
even more
Nandalal
Bengal
Lucknow
but also
that
they led to developments
in artists like Ram Kinkar Baij. He
because
far-reaching
Bose at Santiniketan
which
of the Congress.
Baij's entry into the art world
had
organised
at the
session
Ram Kinkar
adds
a new dimension
in the relationship
of folk-art to modern Indian art. So far it had been
and
middle-class
Indians
who had turned to folk
educated
upper
of changing tastes in the west, or of the stress
move
that gripped
the national
on village crafts and self-reliance
ment from the Swadeshi
period onwards.
art, either as a reflection
School
of the Government
of Mukul Dey, the Principal
Speaking
of Art at Calcutta and the critic Ajit Ghose, Mildred Archer recounts
how
Bengalis
were
among
Modern
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SUNEET CHOPRA
/ 71
and
scrolls
collect
made
another
by
the
and
patuas
distinctive
of rural
form
of village
paintingthe
Bengal.10
While
of their own
there was
thing
in India as there
had
roots, which
never
was
elite. Also,
on which
from
of the
for, photographic
art. Folk forms, though
to be rediscovered,
educated
up.
rejection
any
in the West,
not dried
wholesale
the developing
a whole
Bose,
Indian
folk
artist
of "tradition"
gamut
of Ellora
the paintings of Ajanta and Bagh, the sculptures
including
of miniature
Mukul
and the many schools
painting.
Finally,
Dey
in 1923, when the Gandhian
returned
to India
movement
was
already in full swing, with its stress on self-reliance
of the village by the urban middle classes.
In fact, an account
came
to Santiniketan
1931)
is illustrative
and rediscovery
one of whom let him paint toys, and later even images, for him. Then
came the 1921 movement, and Ram Kinkar was active in it. The
Principal of a local college, Anil Baran Ray, was its leader. His
supporters had got Ram Kinkar to make posters for the movement.
Their quality and sharpness brought him to Baran Ray's notice and he
him to Ramananda
recommended
Chatterjee, editor of the Pravasi,
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Bose
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SUNSET CHOPRA
modern
of the
for the intermingling
of
art than any elite process
basis
in Indian
elements
/ 73
enlightenment
Baij as a full-fledged
the organic
of modern
between
the folk and
this, the relationship
in India
a
which
could
occur
change
only
undergoes
in this mannera
change that is very different from the metamor
modern
art. With
idiom
in Europe
phosis that modernism
Ram Kinkar's teacher, Nandalal
left us artistic evidence
Ram
entitled
concrete,
Kinkar's
Santhal
has experienced.
Bose, recognized
this, and he has
of it. There is a sketch of his, dated 4 July 1944,
in rough
his masterpiece
Statue, showing
Ram
which
Family,
Kinkar
made
in
1938
at
Santiniketan.
The
sketched it
and a dog at their feet. Nandalal
with the Santhals
environment,
walking
by. The
natural
out of
the ritual deities fashioned
by Santhals
figures resemble
but there the
their contours,
branches
of trees, often following
a people
ends. The figures are monumental,
resemblance
celebrating
not
future. They are modern,
to a larger-than-life
forging ahead
forms vibrate
icons in static poses, but a group whose interrelated
with life like ripples in a pool of water. And the medium
too, direct
concrete, belongs to the modern world. The figures reflect a powerful
zest for life, which
has been
and
stress its spontaneity
is essentially individualistic,
described
based
and rooted
is a superficial
This, however,
analysis.
Benode
Bihari or of Ram
The joy of life in the work of Nandalal,
Kinkar is not joy in the abstract, like the mask of a Greek drama,
and environment."
without
meaningless
the actor
behind
joy of
In the case
of a people.
in a movement
of self-liberation
participating
the
of
this
of Ram Kinkar, we see
by one of the
depth
joy expressed
of
that the participation
In fact, the failure to understand
oppressed.
was
and Ram Kinkar in the national movement
artists like Nandalal
the social
ous
and historical
creations
emerge
context
in which
is probably
one
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Kumar
Sharat
credit:
Photo
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SUNEET CHOPRA
/ 75
monumental
abstract
intense
While
These
the work
of Meera
reminds
ficial. The
using
Gharuas
Mukherjee,
starting with the bronze He
this monumental
figure of a tribal youth
of Ram
urban
of Bastar.
not make
It is the attitude
of the
in Nandalal
classical
artistic tradition
1965-66,
jee
was
side, as it were.
opposite
This process, begun in the sixties,
(struggle) whose originality reminds
culminated
in a work
Andolan
creations
of the late thirties and early forties.12 The visual image which domi
nates the sculpture
is a tree, sacred to the tribals whose techniques
in herself, a proper symbol for a hallowed
institu
she has ingrained
another
sacred
of fire,
tion. And the students,
element,
tongues
and
devour it. Here we see a reflection of how institutions, hallowed
are devoured
stage of social development,
by the
forces of the future. Such concepts
of the transitory nature of our
them are unhear
institutions and the forces of change transforming
sacred,
at one
of craftsman.
images,
then indeed,
When
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76 / India
International
of five decades
artisan
youth,
Centre
Quarterly
of modernity
in a rural
see the sharing of a
we
common
reminds
me of
grievance
against society. This sculpture
the
Faiz
Ahmed
Faiz
told
me
about
the
nature
of his
something
poet
verse: that it was to give voice to those without a voice. So, Meera
the language
of the oppressed
and
sculpture
speaks
but what she says is something
the traditional
down-trodden;
craftsman cannot say, and there lies its originality. Folk art serves as
Mukherjee's
at us from works
between
of Francis
Newton
Souza,
his canvas
modelled
on
Pregnant Women. The figure of the woman is obviously
the clay figurines of the mother-goddess
used as ritual objects in the
prehistoric past and in village India today. Indeed, if one compares
the figure of the pregnant
the same year, one realises
woman
also
of
function. They
work, however,
they serve another
the values he stresses and those
the disjunction
between
in our traditional art. The female figure with two residual
J. Bhabha:
between
the
tries to create a disjunction
and
the
ritual
in
their
existence
day-to-day
worshippers
Souza
uses the symbols and structures
and
its
sacred
context,
object
of the sacred to highlight the profane. Here, the forms of folk art
distinct
human
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SUNEET CHOPRA
Souza's
iconoclasm
has
few have
been
/ 77
able
to
equal.
A similar
is
and less self-conscious,
trend, only far more evasive
in the work of another Bombay artist, Bhupen Khakhar,
work was described
to me by the poet Asad Zaidi as "urban
discernible
whose
or Mughal
miniatures,
and
It reminds me of Gericault's
woman
and
with
rites of passage.
On
mocks
the other
the rituals
hand,
in his "narrative"
of middle
class life, as in
paintings, Subramanyan
his Reverie of an Army Officer's Wife. Here, the folk narrative is but one
aspect of a complex
language
incorporating
the talk of the street, the village wag's dialogue with its puns and turns
of phrase, the story-teller's narrative, the folk song and ballad, to the
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Spaceman:
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SUNEET CHOPRA
of a sophisticated
compositions
poet with its areas
mystery and the loaded enunciations of a philosopher;
and
richness
expression,
a mere
on
depends
a simultaneous
of clarity and
its life content
of various
presence
/ 79
levels
of
linguistic
virtuosity
and
the
lower
from
crassness.15
of reference,
them
a knowledge
involving
of
art, a comprehension
history
of society, philosophy,
and a famili
concerns
of modern
art. Obviously,
such a
to achieve;
all too often, forays into the folk
arity with
the global
is
not easy
synthesis
idiom result in unimaginative
works
are distinct
and repetitive
"airport art". Such
from those with a genuinely
modern perspective,
is from The West Side Story'.
as street language
Of course,
changing
selective
synthesis
movement
national
times
too
have
contributed
in modern
its institutions
have
to this new,
Indian
art. The
much
of their
lost
and
irreverence,
is no
Pal Singh
restricted
of
to
women's
and applique
work. Not only is his perspec
wall-paintings
tive very differentbut
his choice of themes too has no parallel in
the annals of folk art. He is not given to georgics
like the earlier
Rawal
or Chavda.
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80 / India
International
Centre
Quarterly
in the works of
irony reminds one of the same emotion
expressed
other artists who have integrated the folk tradition in their paintings,
this
and Jogen Chaudhuri.
He integrates
like K.G. Subramanyan
with the metaphor of the space-flight so much a part of the twenty
first century scenario
that was being touted by trendy political ad
vertisersbut
he deflates it quitely by giving us the image of a scare
The image reflects both the urge of the
crow flying in an air-balloon.
rural young to free themselves
the same time, their physical
of an oppressive
environment,
to
do
so.
incapacity
and at
It is the full-throated
Here we find folk art serving a new purpose.
which
cry of our rural masses to be liberated from the fake-paradise
the
had
thrust
on
them.
Their
is
the artists of
aggression
past
reflected
nature,
in bright colours
be it in male birds
in breaking
or poisonous
the age-old barriers which insult the art of the oppressed
it the vehicle of general discontent
and the desire for a
by making
better world.
against
that characterize
social
Yet,
while
limitations,
he
his
discontent
and
anger
and backwardness,
he also
oppression
for
able to transmit concepts unthinkable
expresses
buoyance
or so of modern
Today, when we look back at the last five decades
that
Indian art, it is evident that the broadbased
liberating passion
is no longer there; but many different
a whole
gripped
people
streams
have taken
struggles
to voice these concerns
of emancipatory
It is in
its place.
that our multiple
role, and found
a proper language
a powerful
folk-traditions
have played
regional
culture. In a sense,
themselves
a new lease of life in our present-day
suited to this purpose, being so varied that each
they are admirably
finding
while liberating
of expression,
restraints. So, while the folk-idiom
mode
these
pro
artist with plenty of raw material for originality,
in its
which it never possessed
he in turn gives it a universality
traditional
confines.
languages
vides our modern
References
1.
Tendulkar,
D.G.
2.
Tendulkar,
Mahatma,
Vol.
IV, 1952,
p. 68.
82-83.
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SUNEET CHOPRA
3.
Tendulkar,
4.
Tendulkar,
5.
Interview
6.
Interview.
7.
Bose,
8.
Interview.
9.
Bose,
/ 81
Nandalal,
Nandalal,
the artist.
Catalogue
to the Exhibition.
Catalogue
to the Exhibition.
10. Archer, Mildred, Indian Popular Painting in the India Office Library, 1978, p. 2.
11.
Interview.
12.
Sen, Geeti,
"The
p. 78.
13.
Image
and
Interview
in East-West
14.
Interview
15.
Subramanyan,
K.G.,
p. 69.
the Imagination",
Visual
The Living
Arts Encounter,
Tradition:
IIC
Quarterly,
Marg
Perspectives
Vol.
13, No.
Publications,
on Modern
1987,
Indian
1,1986,
p. 32.
Art, 1987,
Illustrations
1.
Nandalal
Bose
(Catalogue),
2.
Nandalal
Bose
(Catalogue),
3.
Nandalal
Bose
(Catalogue),
4.
Nandalal
Bose
(Catalogue),
He who saw.
5.
Meera
6.
Narendra
Mukherjee
Pal Singh
Ear Cleaner,
Haripura
Birth of Chaitanya.
Panel.
Cutter, Haripura
Vegetable
Raw Kinkar's
Statue
Spaceman
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Panel