Manikchand is sitting in his family home in Hazaribagh, closely watching his mother’s strokes on handmade paper that will turn into a beautiful Sohrai painting. Manikchand, now 33, learnt the art of Sohrai nearly 12 years ago, and still considers himself a ‘student.’ Now, he works with 10 Sohrai artists, most of them women, to take the art from the walls of his village to the world. They now make several products that feature the nearly 11,000-year-old art. What’s new, in fact, is the involvement of men in the craft.
Manikchand working on a Sohrai piece
Manikchand is not alone. In craft clusters across the country, as the market for traditional arts has picked up, men have entered what used to be a woman’s domain. The shrinking space for mural arts contributed greatly to the disappearance of those arts from common usage. ‘Someone saw my mother’s artwork and strongly suggested I take it up to revive the craft,’ he says. What’s more, the art form was now a means to a livelihood, something that had not crossed their minds earlier.
Rohit Rathod working on embroidery
Nearly 1500 kilometres away, Rohit Rathod has travelled a similar journey with his community’s Banjara embroidery in Maharashtra. Inspired by his grandmother, he learnt most of the techniques of the embroidery, characterised by a red base, and sometimes embellished with cowrie shells and coins.
He is interested in creating newer products that can reach his community’s art to the world. He also knows how the community’s naivete was taken advantage of. ‘We did not know much about the outside world and had a fascination with metal. People from outside gave my grandmother’s generation stainless steel plates and in return, took away many antique embroidered pieces. We are determined to not let that happen again,’ he says.
These young men (and in some cases, women) are determined to be equal partners in their participation in the craft market.
Club Artizen works closely with them to co-create products that can showcase their art form in the best way possible. We share a mission: to enable sustainable living through Indian craft.
We are always looking for interesting art to feature. Do drop us a line at info@clubartizen.com with any recommendations!