Folk arts, crafts, paintings reflect rich tribal culture in Udupi

Beauty of traditional tribal Indian art was unveiled at the five-day workshop-cum-demonstration on tribal/folk arts and crafts of India—Hemanthotsav organised by the Southern Regional Centre of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS,) at MGM College in Udupi.

The ethnicity displayed on the occasion reflected the rich tribal art.

Ngundam Jombi and Bomjim Doke from West Siang district in Arunachal Pradesh told Deccan Herald that they are eager and happy to introduce the traditional art of their homeland to this part of the region. The ethnic decorative items made out of bamboo and the handloom materials are the speciality in the interior parts of Arunachal Pradesh. The intricate weaving of the bamboo tray, flower vase, glass mate, baskets, file covers are different from other craftsmanship.

The wooden spoons, head ornaments are also different from other exhibits.
 The skill involved to interweave the bamboo lace provides eye-catchy glimpse of the items.

On the other hand, Sandhya from Wayanad in Kerala has displayed the jewelleries made of bamboo sticks and strings. She said that she supplies jewelleries for the fashion designers from Mumbai for the ramp shows. She is associated with Unarvu, the women handicraft society, which helps the artisans for marketing their products.

The Painting wing of Malyalam Kala Grama head K R Babu was busy scribbling the Mural paintings with historical subject as the theme.

Dino from Kohima in Nagaland was surrounded by people to observe her traditional interlacing techniques. She said she is into this artisanship since childhood taking over the baton from her mother and grandmother, who were involved in the same work.
She said that she takes two weeks to weave one shawl, which fetches her around Rs 2,500, her monthly income does not exceed more than Rs 4000-5000.

Alakesh Das from Assam  displayed the traditional Assamese jewellery, which is completely handcrafted. The artist seemed to be inspired by nature, birds and traditional motifs. The traditional jewellery design like ‘lokaparo’ (the fan tailed pigeon), ‘dholbiri’ (the traditional drum), jonbiri (crescent shaped moon), ‘jethi pota’ (lizard paws), ‘dugdugi’ (the heart), ‘japi’ (traditional Assamese headgear) mesmerised the onlookers.
Chikka Siddaiah and Neelamma of Yellanduru in Chamarajanagar displayed their products, craft works, flowerpots, hand fan, toys, flower vase and wall stand key chains prepared from Bamboo. 

Dattatreya from Bidar who is into Bidriware said that the art is the speciality of Bidar. It is made out of pure silver and zinc metal. Later, the art materials are dipped into the mixture of unique soil found only at Bidar fort and Ammonium Chloride. The mixture gives the art piece totally a new look. 

He said that there are nearly 200 artisans in Bidar, who are engaged in living through Bidri art.

The new generation is least bothered owing to the fear of not having constant income. The government through Cauvery, Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation Limited does provide help in the form of six kilograms of zinc and 75 gram of silver. However, each artisan gets the benefit only once in four months. “We can prepare the artifacts worth Rs 250, per day. It calls for much hard work and dedication.”

The Kalidasa awardee Shravan Paswan from Bihar has displayed his Madhubani art. The vibrant depiction of flora, fauna and gods in the Gond painting, the traditional art of Madhya Pradesh truly stands inimitable.

Magic lamp prepared by Kalavathi and Halesh of Ramanagar exemplifies the outstanding traditional artifact.

Seema Bannerji from West Bengal has displayed the sheep leather works in the form of batik and embossing models.