Weaving Dreams: People’s Art Exhibition Showcases Rural Craftsmanship

At Bangalore International Centre, 'People’s Art' by Charaka highlights rural women's handloom creations that evolved into abstract masterpieces. The exhibition emphasizes the blend of art and craft, raising funds to support rural employment. Featured artists include Jatin Das and H K Dwarkanath, celebrating India's rich textile heritage.

Eight of the artworks displayed at Bangalore International Centre (BIC), as part of ‘People’s Art’ by Charaka – a handloom cooperative in Heggodu run by rural women mostly – are literally that. Pieces of art created by hundreds of hands, almost accidentally.

Over time, the cloth that lined the table as craftsmen printed bales and bales of cloth with wooden blocks, turned into an abstract piece of art, bringing to mind the works of American artist Mark Rothko.

Rothko, who was part of the abstract expressionism movement of modern art, celebrated pure abstraction by gradually transitioning from one hue to another, building drama and textures – art historians even find religious iconographies in these skilfully blended shades of diaphanous colours.

Drama and texture are apparent at the long rectangular pieces of cloth framed and hung at the BIC too.

''Our canvases, created by hundreds of hands, excess colours that seeped on to them when printers banged motifs on cloth, have innumerable indirect impressions, partial impressions and subdued combinations in colours, creating extraordinarily complex pieces of work,'' said Heggodu Prasanna, who founded Charaka in 1994.

Prasanna says one of the reasons why he conceptualised ‘People’s Art’ is to remind people how art is more than mere signatures and market-driven commodity.

''The dynamic link that existed through human history, between art and craft, mind and body, sense and intellect, experience and expertise, have all but vanished. This postmodern tendency is largely induced by the market economy,'' he added.

The other reason is to raise funds for Charaka and sustain its efforts to create more rural jobs at its weaving and dyeing centre in the hinterlands of Karnataka.

At BIC, we spotted one of India’s prominent contemporary artists, Jatin Das bent over a piece of kora or undyed cotton, drawing a dancing Shiva – one of many pieces of work he created on May 19 as his contribution to Charaka’s Gram Swaraj Nidhi.

The squiggle and signature, ironically, will be fetching more than most complex textile artwork present at the venue.

Das inaugurated the three-day show on May 19. The show is on till May 21.

A long-time friend of Prasanna, Das said he came to Bengaluru nearly after 15 years, just so he can be a ‘spoke’ that propped up the hub that is Prasanna’s vision.

''Even otherwise, I think the word craft is a misnomer. In India, everything used to be art. It is the British who distinguished between art and craft,'' Das told PTI.

Apart from Das, Bengaluru-based artists Balan Nambiar and Ganesh Mishra also contributed ‘created just for the occasion’ artworks on pieces of kora cotton, for Gram Swaraj Nidhi.

On display at the exhibition are also works of textile artists, exploring the nuanced heritage of Indian textile art.

These were mostly designers who suggested design interventions to crafts people, said Prasanna.

''These are actually what we call samples, done at the design centre of Charaka. The hallmark of these works is that the artist, while working, has held back ego to a large extent, in their attempt to find a mid-way that craftsmen can tread too,'' said Prasanna.

On display in this section is a large body of work of hugely popular textile artist, Mysuru-based H K Dwarkanath. So popular that within a span of hours of opening the exhibition, we spotted red dots, denoting sold status on some of his works.

Known as Dwarki among his friends, Dwarkanath said he was trained at CAVA (Chamarajendra Government College of Visual Arts in Mysuru), but got pulled into theatre world and art direction, thanks to Kannada theatre veteran B V Karanth.

''So, I joined the Rangayana theatre in Mysuru and was there for 35 years. When I retired from there, Prasanna invited me over to Heggodu, to suggest some design interventions for the craftspeople there,'' Dwarkanath told PTI.

The works on display at the exhibition are his initial explorations into the medium, he said.

''Textile was a very new medium, but the more I worked on them, the more I enjoyed the fabric and natural dyes combination,'' said Dwarkanath.

He said he chose Batik initially because that was easy to begin with as a painter.

''For three months, I observed the rural way of life in Heggodu and I used predominantly single colour, usually Indigo, and worked in three to four layers, using printing techniques,'' added Dwarkanath.

Now, he said, he has gained enough expertise in the medium to come up with not only design interventions for wooden blocks, but also exploring other materials like rubber and roller instead of the traditional wooden blocks.

For Prasanna, this coming together of art and craft is integral to build a better India.

''We proved with Charaka that the Gandian principle of sustainable and dispersed production can be profitable. We are today the largest producer of naturally dyed cotton handlooms in the country. This is also the only way, if you ask me, to mitigate the twin problems facing humanity – rural livelihood and climate crisis,'' said Prasanna.