Asian Power Couples & Biswa Bangla celebrate ‘Gods & Demons’ show

As published in New Asian Post

Left: Lopa Patel MBE and Neishaa Gharat hosted a reception to celebrate the opening of the Gods & Demons exhibition at the Nehru Centre. Image by Count Creation for NewAsianPost.com

Lopa Patel, curator of the Asian Power Couples Hot 100 list, and Neishaa Gharat, curator of Biswa Bangla, hosted a reception to celebrate the opening of the Gods & Demons exhibition on Tuesday 3rd May 2016. Attended by several shortlisted nominees from the Asian Power Couples Hot 100 2015 list, guests heard from Neishaa Gharat about the Biswa Bangla initiative; from John Bell, former Chairman of the British Guild of Travel Writers, about his experiences of travelling in West Bengal and from Ali Pretty about the forthcoming Silk River project. The exhibition was inaugurated by the lighting of a traditional lamp by Deputy High Commissioner of India to the UK, Dr Virander Paul, and Srinivas Gotru, Director of the Nehru Centre. Guests at the Nehru Centre reception were entertained with a special Kathak performance by Pruthvi Shah and singing by Kishan Amin and had the opportunity to hear from Suman Chitrakar and Sankar Das, artisans from Biswas Bangla.

Biswa Bangla

Biswa Bangla, ‘Where the world meets Bengal’, is a government initiative of one of the most culturally diverse states in India, West Bengal. Biswa Bangla, through its partners and networks, impacts over 10,000 artisans, craftspeople and weavers. It encourages innovation, provides design assistance and improves quality and supply chains for the handloom and handicraft products of the state. With craftsmanship they want to share the energy and creativity of the people. The development of Rural Craft and Culture Hubs is overseen by banglanatak .com, a social enterprise. In collaboration with UNESCO, the creation of Rural Craft and Culture Hubs across the state not only encourages innovation and preserves the culture and talent of Bengal but also enriches and improves the quality of life of artisans and craftspeople.

Mukhosh

Mukhosh (mask) making is an ancient craft form that dates back centuries. Although a craft shared throughout Bengal, the masks are fiercely individual. Each region utilises different techniques to create their individual Mukhosh, and the materials used are just as diverse as the state of Bengal, with bamboo, wood, clay, paper and metal all part of the process of creation.

Patachitra

Patachitra is a visual storytelling form that takes the form of painted scrolls, depicting sequential scenes from stories, legends and myths. The stories of the scrolls are brought to life by singing scroll painters, known as Patuas. Originally they travelled from village to village, singing their stories whilst unravelling and painting the scrolls, illustrating the stories and bringing them to life in another visual dimension.

Like the arts and crafts of Bengal, Gods and Demons is a topic that remains relevant and captivating in the twenty first century. The theme of good and evil is not only the starting point for the genesis of Patachitra and Mukhosh, but has enchanted audiences for thousands of years. Heralding from Bengal, the history of their origin is just as mysterious as the masks themselves. Perhaps the best place to start is their affiliation with powerful witches, who according to Bengali folklore, brought the masks into being as a way of concealing their identity. The rich colour and flamboyant designs were also intended to attract innocent victims, sacrificing them in return for immortality. The initial genesis of the masks began with great religious importance but now find themselves an integral part of many different dance forms, used symbolically to appease the demon gods and usher in peace and prosperity.

Patachitra subjects began with religion and folklore, nowadays the paintings depict contemporary events like terrorist attacks, tsunamis and earthquakes. Whilst the traditional style of the Patachitra has remained constant for thousands of years, the depicted subjects have seen a shift in the passage of time, just as our perceived concept of Gods and Demons has. What makes modern Patachitras so enchanting is their ability to portray important social themes and the demons of our day, like gender inequality, child marriage and climate change whilst staying true to the ancient and mesmerising style.

The Gods & Demons exhibition will tour Edinburgh and Glasgow with live demonstrations on the making the masks of Bengal and the visual storytelling form of Patachitra from 12th – 15th May 2016.

To keep the beautiful spirit of the London exhibition alive we have created a visual archive of the exhibits so that you can relive the beauty of the arts and crafts. Also experience our eclectic opening reception evening in London.