The unusually sultry September and a busy makeshift stall, do not stop Rupsona. A folk singer-artist of the pattachitra tradition, from Pingla district, West Bengal, she narrates her scrolls through song, armed with a powerful voice. Undeterred by visitors trying to catch her art on camera, she points to her canvas and sings of the playful love Radha and Krishna share. Lately, her canvases have been telling some socially relevant stories as well: of female infanctide, the tsunami of 2004, and even the life of Mother Teresa.
At another stall in Craft Council’s recently-concluded Artisans Collective in Chennai, a pichwai cow adorned with ceremonial jewelry dominates a stretched canvas, to the backdrop of an unexpectedly trendy monochrome grid. The Warli artist opposite holds out canvases where traditional tarpa dance and geometrical figures have now been replaced by the Tree of Life, painted in acrylic. Nearby, Bhil artists display the Hindi alphabet drawn in their traditional style to introduce children to the tribal artform.
