Mapping Indian Textiles: AppliquédImage Gallery
Papier Mache Art of Kashmir: A PhotoessayImage Gallery
Crafts
Displaying 11 - 20 of 34
Every autumn, Kolkata gets ready to welcome Goddess Durga. It is that time of year when the city celebrates the spirit of love, laughter and life. Thousands of people throng the streets both from within as well as outside Kolkata to visit different pandals and view idols of Durga. However, Durga…
in Overview
In this interview with Aaheli Sen, Mintu Pal talks about the survival of clay idol making in his neighbourhood amid the government’s apathy towards its preservation and propagation, and the measures required to be taken for the art to survive in this modern age.
Following is an edited transcript…
in Interview
She is the recipient of the State Award for handicrafts for dolls and toys for the year 2008–09. She has also been conferred the title of ‘guru’ under the Guru Shishya Parampara Scheme of the Ministry of Culture. She trains many young people in doll making.
Following is an edited transcript of the…
in Interview
Durga Puja is one of the most-awaited festivals for Bengalis around the world in the autumn month of Ashwin (Bengali calender, corresponding to September–October in the Gregorian calendar). In Kolkata this week-long festival is celebrated with much pomp and grandeur—idols of Goddess Durga and her…
in Module
The Meiteilon word for doll is laiphadibi. It is made up of two words: lai, which means god and phadi, which means a shabby piece of cloth. The last syllabi, bi, denotes the feminine gender. So, laiphadibi is a feminine image of god, made from shabby clothes. They are treated as living spirits with…
in Overview
Sociologist Richard Sennett conceptualises the idea of craft to illustrate the intimate connection between the workings of the hand and the head.[1] He weaves a connection between knowing and working through the experience and action of craft. In Grundrisse, German political theorist Karl Marx…
in Overview
‘If you do not put your laiphadibi back in the lubak (bamboo basket) after playing, they will cry at night under the banana plants.’ That was one scary imagery for child in a Manipuri household. Elders would use this imagery generously each time children would leave behind their dolls scattered…
in Module