While handicrafts still continue to remain constricted to “haats” and “bazaars” and are often dealt with on the periphery of our daily lives, we at INTACH and Happy Hands Foundation, have tried to merge and make traditional crafts more mainstream.
Our summer workshops this May are a small but a meaningful endeavour in that direction. With a burst of crafty activities in Delhi, the city offers a lot to its niche art lovers. Art-Pitara is our one such offering – a month full of exciting and educative workshops celebrating heritage art forms from across India. Participants across all age groups can register in mask painting from Andhra Pradesh or bring to life ancient mythical characters through workshops on Leather Puppets. How about a session on the 500-year-old form of storytelling – Kavad? Or attend a master art class in Gujarati folk paintings-Pithora.
We believe art plays a critical role in our daily lives – both as a recreational activity and a means of expression. While art and crafts have been a very vital part of our preceding generations; our generation has found its own nuisances and forms of cultivating and creating art. However, lack of sufficient exposure and awareness has resulted in the gradual decline in proliferation of traditional handi-crafts – both as a prospective occupation and as a recreational activity. Through Art-Pitara, we aim to initiate a dialogue between an artist and his craft with our participants, so that the history (of a craft) along with its aesthetic beauty can be passed on to succeeding generations specially our youth.
“The idea behind conducting these workshops is to bring people closer to the wealth of folk art and craft forms existing in our country, to foster creativity and to spread not only awareness but appreciation, especially among the young people, for the richness of our cultural heritage. It is only when we attempt to learn these traditional arts from the master craftsmen themselves can we truly value the skills, hard work and imagination that goes into creating each piece. Besides, they are a lot of fun and a wonderful activity over the summer!” says Nerupama Y. Modwel, Director ICH, Intach New Delhi.
The workshops, will also give our participants an opportunity to interact with the craftsmen themselves, who will be visiting from Karnataka, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh and will be giving you a glimpse of India’s rich cultural heritage.
Says Medhavi Gandhi, Director of Happy Hands Foundation, “This is an excellent opportunity for people to engage with rural artists and exchange stories/myths/legends behind these arts. More than anything, you go back with the satisfaction of having learnt the skill of making something so unique and special – and one can actually hand-make gift items for loved ones following this experience!”
To art enthusiasts, culture junkies, the curious minds, the design aficionados and of course children and their parents, the workshops are open to one and all. Come be a part of this colourful cornucopia, come be a part of your country’s rich heritage!
The workshops start on May 26th – June 21st. Registrations on till May 16th. For more information, visit here.
About INTACH:
The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) is a Non-Profit organization, spearheading heritage awareness and conservation in India.
About Happy Hands Foundation:
Happy Hands Foundation is a New Delhi based not-for-profit organisation reviving Indian arts, crafts and culture.