Posts filed under ‘Arts and Crafts’
Plight of Sambalpuri handloom weavers
Following is a report from https://kalingatv.com
Bhubaneswar: The traditional handloom and textile designs of Odisha enjoy acceptability worldwide. Sambalpuri sarees are acclaimed by many for its distinctive patterns and beautiful motifs. Their producers, weavers behind the skill, are recognized and awarded. However, the weavers feel they need more than just awards and felicitations. They need patronage in terms of market, skill development training and economic support. We talked to a few award-winning weavers of Bargarh district to elicit what can boost their plight and creativity.
Seventytwo year old Tribikram Meher of Mahalakanta village in Bheden block of Bargarh district is a national award recipient that he has bagged thanks to his innovation of some motifs in Sambalpuri handloom. Asked to tell about his work the weaver said, “I have created a number of motifs using different natural elements like flowers, sun, different plants etc. Even, I can create a new customized motif as per the need of a customer. However, we don’t get enough remuneration for a customized work and so stick to the existing one.” Tribikram and his wife live with the family of their son Sarat Meher, who also helps him in weaving along with his family members. The elder son has also inherited the traditional business of their family, but he shifted his base to Ulunda in Subarnapur village.
Tribikram’s son Sarat Meher who also is a weaver said, “Although my father has got a few awards both in the state and national level still we hardly earn about 8 to 10 thousand per month. You can analyse how difficult it is to manage a family along with the old parents with such a small budget.”
“I have heard weavers are entitled to some kind of pensions. If my father could be given any such kind of pension in lieu of his creative works as a weaver, it would be a great help to our family,” the innocent villager added.
Asked how he helps his father in the work Sarat said, “My father is too old now to work. But still he eagerly work on bandhas that we put in the clothe, when weaving. We work on his already invented motifs and that is the big contribution.”
Sambalpuri saree is made from fabric woven on a hand-loom. Varieties of the Sambalpuri saree include Pasapali, Bomkai and Bapta saris, which are in high demand. Most of them have been named after their places of origin and are popularly known as Pata.
Another weaver Dukhishyam Meher of Remunda village in Bargarh district is a recipient of the National Merit award in weaving. He said, “In these days there are many clothes, which resembles Sambalpuri handloom, are available in the market. These clothes are not handmade and supplied from Chhattisgarh and other states. Since these are generated in power-looms, these clothes are sold in cheap price. However, one can feel the difference after wearing Sambalpuri and these clothes. Often the sellers sell it in the name of Sambalpuri handloom Saris and clothes. Thus, when a customer gets something like our product in a cheap rate he prefers it. However, it negatively affects our trade.”
Asked about the solution he said, “If our village weavers can be supplied with raw materials in a lower price and can be trained with new technology, the problem can be resolved.”
Another weaver Surya Kumar Meher from Remenda village in Bargarh district says, “Many skill development programs are executed in the pen and paper only. But when it comes to practicality we reap very less.”
“In Orissa market Pochampalli clothes from the southern states are available. The cloth resembles like Sambalpuri handwork. These clothes are made in handloom, not in power-loom and have most of the characteristics that our clothes have. I have also visited their work place. They use machines where bulk production is possible in less time. In their technology one person can do the work which will need at least two persons in our technology. However, since all our works are done manually we can produce only four pieces of clothes at one time. If our weavers will be financially assisted to buy such machines we can also produce more clothes in less time,” he added.
Surya has received a national merit award for weaving. He is into this trade since the time of his forefathers. He said, “My grandfather was working in the loom. My father inherited the traditional profession and now I have inherited weaving. Along with my brother we are working on the loom to produce Sambalpuri handloom generated clothes of different pattern.”
Sixty one year old Murali Meher, a national award winner weaver from Jhiliminda village in Bargarh district has also received the Santha Kabir award. He says that the government is patronizing weavers only by giving awards, but we need some more. “If the weavers will be given training on skill development and will be allowed to work in different projects from where they can learn, only then they can develop. Besides, printed and not woven, clothes are abundant in the market which customers get at a cheap price and so prefer. Resultantly, it hampers our business. The government should come up with regulatory acts to check such practice.”
Different sarees and handloom products from western Odisha
Sonepuri bandha:: Manufactured in Subalaya-Birmaharajpur-Ulunda-Sonepur area, Subarnapur district.
Bomkai:: Manufactured in Subalaya-Birmaharajpur-Ulunda-Sonepur area, Subarnapur district.
Pasapali (Sambalpuri bandha):: Manufactured in Bargarh and Sambalpur districts.
Habaspuri:: Manufactured in Kalahandi and Nuapada districts.
Kotapada:: Manufactured in Koraput district.
Shilpiguru Padmasri Kunjabihari Meher: The Weaving Legend
Click on the following graphic to see the complete FB album of Padmasri Kunjabihari Meher (Thanks to Saket for uploading the pictures):
Bomkai Saree of Subarnapur district, western Odisha
Following write-up is from http://beautyballs.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/bomkai-saree/:
BOMKAI SAREE
The Bomkai saree, one of the traditional sarees of east India are created by the adept artisans who excellently define the tradition and culture of India by the simple work of needle. The traditional figured saree from the southern Orissan coastal plains is the Bomkai saree. This saree is named after the vilaage where it was discovered in early 1980s.
Sonepur is located in the western part of Orissa. Sonepur hand loom woven sarees and dress material are known for their unique “Bomkai” designs locally known as “Bandha” design. This Bomkai design on the fabric (especially on Sarees) is developed by using Jala technique on handloom.
HISTORY OF BOMKAI SAREE
The art of weaving has been existing in this part of Orissa since 600 B.C. The scriptures in the caves of Khandagiri reveal this. By late 1980s, this hand loom cluster had begun specializing in silk weaving especially the Bomkai design (locally known as Bandha Design) without using any extra shedding mechanism like Jacquard and Dobby.
The artisan of the locality used to create Bomkai sarees since the commencement period of the fabric. It was originally made for the local maharaja, aristocracy and Bhramins of the chikiti tahsilm of the ganjam district.
PROCESS AND TECHNIQUE
The Bomkai design both the warp and weft is dyed according to the requirement. For border design, warp alone is processed, while for Palavas and anchal of sarees, weft is processed and overall saree designs, both the warp and weft are processed.
Orissa still uses the traditional jaalas for weaving Bomkai. Wooden jaalas are used and are tied the traditional way by jaala bandhaks (weavers). The technique is in itself a furthering of the tie and dye technique. In case of Bomkai, the yarn is tie dyed but the focus is not on patterns which emerge out of tying and dyeing. It is used to get the contrast colours in the saree. So, a pallav or border may have a solid dyed block or can be double shaded. The ornamentation is worked using the extra weft technique or jaala system which gives the tapestry that kind of look. The borders are woven using what most weavers refer to as phool bandhaks which flow on the designs on the border. The double shades of the saree, the border and the pallavs are worked on the basis of colour combinations. Once the dyed yarn is fitted in the pattern is worked using extra weft technique. This gives saree an almost woven, carpet like effect.
Recent innovations include the introduction of zari threads in weaving. While earlier the entire design was done in thread work with cotton or silk yarn as the fabric base. Nowadays, the saris are woven in both cotton and silk with brilliantly created angular discontinuous supplementary-weft patterns woven in the end-piece in contrasring colours.
MOTIFS
The Bomkai cotton saris have been influenced by tribal art, and are embroidered with temple spire patterns on the border.
BORDER’S MOTIFS
Bomkai sarees feature threadwork ornament borders. The supplementary bands are not woven in progressive order from large to small or vice versa, but are woven according to the choice of the weaver. Yet despite all the work in the endpiece, it is the supplementary – wrap patterns of the border that give these sarees their name. Some of border motifs are:
• MITKTA PANJI A broad band of supplementary-wrap patterning called the “ mitkta panji”, forming a latticework of small diamond shapes is the most popular border.
• TEMPLE A row of temple spires which pretty much look like triangles is also a signature border of bomkai sarees.
• KUMBHA A row of kumbha spires is favourite border motifs.
• RUDRAKSHA The motifs in the borders include ubiquitous rudraksha or bead motifs.
• FLORAL The florals and even plain bootis are also found.
PALLAV MOTIFS
Bomkai patterns are hand woven from gold or silver colored silk threads. They embellish pallu of a saree. The sarees are brilliantly created with angular discountinous supplementary-weft patterns adhere to the traditional tribal motif of orissa, which includes geometric designs, birds, elephant and flowers. Other patters have such names as rukha (pestle, stick), dombaru (small hourglass-shaped drum), kanthi phoola (small flower) and karela (bitter gourd), shankha, peacock and fish.
FLAURA AND FAUNA
The motifs used are kanthiphula, Atasi flower, lotus and flies, birds, peacock, fish, elephants, ducks etc. in geometrical forms.
PEACOCK – It represents a symbol of rebirth in the mythology of Hinduism, Buddhism and islam. In Hinduism, the image of the god of thunder, rains and war – Indra- is depicted in form of peacock. In India, it is also a symbol of love.
FISH – It symbolizes prosperity and good health
CHARACTERISTIC AND UNIQUENESS
The speciality of bomkai is the contrast border and heavy designs on the pallavs, while the blouses are again in contrast colours. Since, oriya sarees have close relation with jagannath culture, the four basic colours which commonly found on jagannath – black, white, red and yellow – is extensively used in oriya sarees and Bomkai is no exception.
It is the design and colour palette that makes Bomkai stand out. The vibrancy of colour combination especially contrst colours are rarely seen elsewhere. Double shaded borders vie with single solid colour borders and this is the signature of Bomkai sarees.
The contrast colours are beautiful such as yellow interspersed with black and a green border or peacock blue competing with golden border.the borders and pallav can be doubl shaded. It is the sheer contrast and eye catching colours which stand out such as grey teamed with a brilliant red, black with glazing golden border and pallav.
Few more links to Sonepuri Saree:
http://www.scribd.com/Anima_Singh_5611/d/43911023-Document-on-Bomkai
Habaspuri saree weavers seek marketing facilities
Following is a report from express-buzz.com:
BHAWANIPATNA: The painstaking efforts and creativity of Chicheguda weavers make every Habaspuri saree produced here a special piece.
Mostly done in cotton, traditional designs of Kandha tribes like Kumbha (temple), fish and flowers are woven into the sarees.Home to 30 weaver families, Chicheguda village has been instrumental in reviving the Habaspuri handloom which was originally woven in Habaspur village of Kalahandi district during the 19th century.
With the decline of dynasty rule, the pattern of weave too passed into oblivion. However, it was revived by master weaver Ugrasen Meher in Chicheguda. One of the many high profile people wearing the Habaspuri sarees includes Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
Subsequently, the government formed the Chicheguda handloom cooperative society to look into training of weavers and marketing of the final products.
However, weavers of the village said even as steps have been taken to revive the Habaspuri weave, a lot more needs to be done for skill upgradation at regular intervals and providing marketing opportunities to them. They also demanded speeding up of the process for geographical indication, copyrights and design patent of the Habaspuri design which has already been delayed by over a year.
The Assistant Director of Textiles Lingaraj Rath said all formalities have been completed to grant the Geographical Index registration to the Chicheguda handloom cooperative society.
He said the department is contemplating to provide crash courses to weavers in producing products in Habaspuri design like bed spreads, table mats apart from saree.
There are also plans to improve weaving methods to increase the productivity. Rath added that all possible steps are being taken to popularise the traditional fabric.
Coppersmiths of Gudbhelipadar village are famous in India for making copper snakes
Following report is from http://news.webindia123.com
Gudbhelipadar Village in Orissa’s Bouda District is today known for its dozens of coppersmith families who have gained popularity for their copper snakes used in different parts of the country.
Each of these over forty families takes pride in the fact that it has been successful at carrying forward a legacy despite all odds. Irrespective of financial crunch and no support from the local government agencies, the families here lead a content life.
These coppersmith families belong to Maharana caste and locally known as “Meher”. They have been involved in this work of making copper snakes since ages. All these years, these families have cherished a dream to keep the ancestral art alive.
Rajesh Sahu, one of the artists said: “All our forefathers were involved in this work. We have learnt it from them and since then we are doing it. We earn our livelihood by doing this work. The Government has not provided any help in marketing our products. We do not get any loan to expand our activities. Department of Handicrafts is also not helping us.”
Praful Kumar, another artisan, said: “First, we cut the copper sheet in different body parts of snake, we heat them up. After that, we bend the copper from where we want to and at that time we need lead. We bend it using lead and give it final look.”
Snakes prepared in this village have been placed in various famous temples. Besides various parts of Orissa, these snakes are sent to various places like Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and various places in Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.
But these coppersmith families are perturbed to see the consistently rising cost of goods required for their art. They work tirelessly but often failed to draw equally handsome returns as per labour involved.
Most of these Meher families admit that to sustain on modest incomes is now very difficult.
Prashant Kumar, another artist, said: Despite our repeated appeals, nobody is paying attention to our condition. Nobody is coming to us. They are not even doing unification of any cooperative society. Once government agency starts buying our goods directly, we can save a lot of money. On the other hand, the rates of copper and lead have gone high.”
But despite all odds, these coppersmith families are happy to think that the copper snakes made by them are used at various temples on the Shivaling (the phallic symbol). (ANI)
Art camp to highlight tourism potential of the Subarnapur district
Following items are from The Telegraph:
Sonepur, Feb. 7: The Sonepur district administration invited 18 painters from across the state last week to capture their impression of the district on canvas. Through this unique initiative, the administration wants to highlight the tourism potential of Sonepur district.
As part of the four-day camp that concluded on Saturday, the artists were taken to various tourist destinations to help them get an idea about the tourism potential of the district.
“During the first two days of the camp, guides took the artists to various tourists destinations in the district and briefed them about the places and monuments to help them understand their importance. Finally, in the last two days, the artists brought out their impression of Sonepur on canvas,” said artist Saroj Mahapatra, who was the coordinator of the camp.
“Some of the themes explored by the artists were saint poet Bhima Bhoi and Rameswar, the confluence of river Mahanadi and Tel,” he added.
Veteran artists like Padmanava Mishra of Sambalpur and Srikant Udgata of Balangir were part of the camp.
Sambalpur-based artist Padmanava Mishra, who was born in Sonepur, was exulted to be back here and paint.
“I have many memories attached to Sonepur as I was born here and spent a good part of my life. The temples, river Mahanadi and nature have always inspired me and they have been my favourite subjects. In this camp, I tried my hand at the Shaiba and Shakta tradition of Sonepur,” Mishra said.
Mishra added that he had done a series of paintings on Bhima Bhoi that he wants to hand over to the district administration.
Gadadhar Barik, district culture officer of Subarnapur, said the camp was an initiative to highlight the tourism potential of Sonepur through the paintings.
“This collection of paintings is regarded as property of Subarnapur and will adorn Sanskriti Bhavan, which will come up soon.
“The artists have explored all the themes and places including the temples, philosophy, nature and rivers of Sonepur.
“Now, we have a collection of 24 paintings. Whatever places these artists haven’t explored, will be painted soon in another camp. There will be an exhibition of these paintings during the Subarna Utsav-2011, which begins next Friday,” Barik said.
Kosal Discussion and Development Forum 