Individual
and the “Other” : Rajarshi Sengupta
The never-ending argument about the role of “Individual” and “Collective” in
making an object of art charts into a new direction with the intersection of craft
practice with the urban forms. Some of the recent themes seen in Kalamakari
dyed works and paintings from Srikalahasti leaves room for investigating the
role of popular imagery and “individualistic” imagination in craft practices.
Ranging from pre-independence era to contemporary, artisanal practices has
directly or indirectly affected art-making process of the urban Indian artists.
The struggle for independence to struggle of finding a visual language rooted
into Indian origin has always found its way through various rural art practices.
With no exception, influence of Kalamkari figurations came into mainstream art
in 1990s, through Ramesh Gorjala and Niranjan Chetty, among others. Later, the
dying technique became the medium of expression for artists, such as- Lavanya
Mani. Visuals produced in the urban milieu penetrate into the craft practices
in a rather silent way. Colonial scholarship has built up the nameless nature of
Indian craftsmen, that to some extend is still being followed. Does it imply a
uniform quality of practice spread over the entire community or suppress the
individual expression for the sake of carrying out the “tradition”?