Jul 10, 2007 09:28 PM
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"Avoid Museums. If you are in a city, isnt it far more interesting to go in search of the present than the past?" suggests Paulo Coelho in Like a Flowing River
. Paulo Coelho is one of the most celebrated authors worldwide and
incidentally, one of my all-time favourite. I respect him. But this
suggestion of his really shook me. I woke myself up from the
half-slumber attitude wrt to Art and Culture I have been practicing
since I came to NCR, 11 months to be precise (Till
my stint at IIT Roorkee,
I always craved for Museums, Art Galleries,
Theatre performances and Theme Fares. When you have Bengali sentiments
but grow up in a non-Bengali small town , you really miss-out another
world, the world of art and Culture. I will discuss that is some other
post. When I came to Noida, I had virtually reserved a weekend every
month, for next 12 months , exclusively dedicated to Art Galleries,
Theatre, Exhibitions, Museums. But my count in last 11 months is just a
single show "Good-Bye Blue Sky"). I decided to take up the task of testing Coelho's suggestion. Coelho cant be wrong. May be I need to change my interests.
Next task was to identify a Museum in Delhi. A thorough search put the count at 22. The task of selection seemed so daunting that I had to adopt the strategy of elimination (Does that remind you of MCQs in your Entrance Papers?).
Options such as Air Force, Railways and Children Museums were readily
eliminated. Several were closed on weekends. Crafts Museum at Pragati
Maidan was the best of the choices available. So dedicated my Saturday
to it.
The place was deserted, except for the guards and the
care-takers. I knew that the interest in stuff like Museum has dwindled
in NCR (If you think I am talking like a Septuagenarian, ask anyone who is residing in Delhi for past 30 years),
but lessened interest meant only 15-20 people, I didn't know that! This
meant either of the two things – either the place sucks big time or the
Septuagenarians are correct, or maybe both. I was delighted to see
Bihar figure in many places - stuff of Oraon tribe, kantha and a bit of
silk trade. It is a tragedy that you get to hear about the place either
in Museums or in countless class IV workers in the street (More about
that, some other time) or in Newspaper reports of abductions. I was
more than elated to see Bihar in a positive light, even though for a
change.
Bengal was everywhere - from musical instruments of the
Oraon tribe to Kantha embroidery, from Chromolithographs made in
Germany but marketed in Bengal to Jamdani and Baluchari print Saris,
and all of these were of late 18h century. I learnt a point or two
about Fashion, Titillation, Bhut, Trade in 18th Century, How religion
affected business, Stonesmanship (Or, whatever you call it) and Bankura
(My father's place of Origin).
Fashion
Fashion has come a full circle. Let me explain it. Kantha(shaped square or rectangular, its a piece of Textile from Bengal and Bihar by Hindu and Muslim women)
has an interesting origin in Bengal. Very few could afford cloth in
rural Bengal in that era. So the women picked up usable pieces from
used clothing and stiched them up. In order to make them look good,
threads from Saree borders were used to border it. What used to be the
innovation of the poor to meet its clothing necessity has become so
fashionable these days.
Trade in 18th Century
Some of the Chromolithographs (a
painting used to decorate walls and is a multi-coloured print on paper
or something else. It was hugely popular in America, Europe and in
affluent-class India in the Victorian Era. ) in the Museum were made in
Germany. One said 'Printed in Saxony'and the other 'Bombay: Made in Germany'.
British
discouraged the Textile industry in India and tried to capture the
market by flooding its own products. Supply-Demand equations suggested
Britain to import the stuff from Germany, which had a flourishing
textile industry in 1880s. Textile Mills of Manchester and Glasgow, and
of Krefeld in Germany worked for extended hours to meet the demands of
the Imperial Empire - especially in India.
Parsis captured the
opium trade with China, after British decided to quit the business. The
ships delivered opium to China hinterland and returned home with silk
and fabulous wealth. The rich Parsi Woman now became fashion conscious
and wore imported Sarees (Kor ni Sari - A Sari with Borders).
Titillation
British
identified that the affluent-class and middle-class in India had a
fascination for fair-skined European Women. To encash this desire the
British came up with textiles havng prints of European Women in
somewhat revealing outfits. This was also evident in the postcards,
oleographs and chromolithographs of Victorian Women. Now who says titillation is new to India?
How religion affected business
A
sign of god or goddess in anything enhanced the desirability of any
commmodity among the rural folks. To tap tis market British brought
Cotton Sarees and Dhotis with pictures of dieties on them. Shiva and
Krishna were the most popular porcelain dieties. Oleographs with Durga
were also popular.
Stonesmanship
Nathuram
of Agra Stone Works became favourite of the Brtish for his stone-works.
More than 500 people worked for him in the Agra region on a variety of
stones - Lapiz Lazuli, Malachite, Onyx, Amethyst etc. His claim to fame
became international after he won international Awards like World
Columbian Commission International Exhibition, Chicago in 1893 and
Britsh Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924.
There was a flip side as well.
Severe mismanagement seemed evident when you look at the non-craft side
of the Museum. The place deserves much better visitor friendliness than
what is present.
I was struck by the security of the place,
or rather the lack of it. Most of the care-takers were either dozing or
reading newspapers with least interest in the visitor. When I spent
almost 15 minutes at the Bhuta Gallery, one quipped - Arre Saab, isme kya rakha hai? Udhar exhibit mein jayiye, bahut kuchh hai dekhne ko. (Man, whats here to see? Go and visit the Exhibition.)
In
many places Photography and Videography was banned. But in some, you
can take snaps after taking permission. Even when I found the place to
take permission, there was no-one there to take care of my request.
Most
of the Cultic Objects didnt bear any nameplate making it difficult for
the less informed visitor to infer what the object is.
The Tribal Map of India said Oraon
tribe is in North-East of Bihar, North Bengal and North Orissa. I
couldn't disagree more. How come South Bihar (which became Jharkhand in
2001) and North East not mentioned? There are many of them in the Tea
Gardens of Assam. The ArchBishop of Ranchi is also an Oraon.
All in all, a great way to spend six hours of your weekend. Where else
can you a free trip to History (Paternal and National) and Culture with
all the pieces of evidences? Sorry Paulo, you are not always correct, at least not in your view about all the Museums. And
I strictly recommend visiting Museums (at least the Crafts Museum) to
all the categories of tourists. If the Museum is in your own country,
you might get to learn several things like I did from my tour. Or, if
you are a foreigner, you might be able to learn a good deal
