Zada hatke

An exciting conversation started in the first wave of the pandemic says Vishpala Hundekari of social enterprise Ekibeki when some of her contemporary painter friends came forward to donate their work towards relief of artisans and the idea transformed into one where they would work with the artisans Seven artists would come together with seven artisans to create 10 pieces the plan given the projectrsquos uniqueness being to put it online to reach as many people as possibleA variety of forces are behind this unique artistic project titled Hand in Hand encouraging collaborations between contemporary artists and Indian artisans practising ageold heritage arts and crafts These include FDCI Lakmeacute Fashion Week Creative Dignity a volunteerled network working on the relief and rehabilitation within the craft sector and EkiBeki a social enterprise with a marketing arm and an NGO that works with dying crafts attempting to contemporarise them in terms of product and usage so that the artisans can earn a living out of them given that many are moving out of traditional crafts because of the lack of respect and money The artworks are being converted into NFTs and hosted on the WazirX NFT Marketplace platformAyesha BroachaWhile some were sceptical of the idea of NFTs not working with the ethos of traditional art says Hundekari ldquomy philosophy is that unless you change with the times you will not survive If the younger generation wants to see craft in NFTs and unless we try and do a few pilots we will not know what needs to be done in the craft sector to go forward This I thought was an easier way to connect with the younger generation across the globerdquo She also wants to explore other performing crafts like kathputli along with folk music because NFTs have the advantage of adding sound bytes Moreover she adds that the blockchain technology ensures that the artisan sees where his or her work is going and with every resale the artist gets money besides guaranteeing authenticity This new aspect has also excited the children of the artisans the promise of people from all over the world being able to access the work urging them towards considering joining the family craft For the traditional artists however NFTs remain an unknown space their involvement with the project and its NFT aspect largely dependent on the relationship of trust they have built with an organisation like Ekibeki ldquoI have been told that while the original will be here digital versions of the work will be seen and made available for buying everywhere and people all over the world will know of me and my work and I will earn royaltiesrdquo says Gond artist Choti Tekam who like the other artisans were paid even before the plan of converting their work into NFTs took flight ldquoThis was my first time It was a good experience and if it benefits us I will think of doing something similar again in the futurerdquoDulari DeviIn this firstofitskind venture contemporary artists like Ayesha Broacha Deepti Nair Uttara Joshi and Farhat Dutta have collaborated with Padmashri Dulari Devi Madhubani Rupsona Chitrakar Patachitra Thilak Reddy Kalamkari and Choti Tekam Gond Broacha and Devirsquos work Lockdown Dreams shows Broacharsquos urban ladies relaxing in the open surrounded by a forest rendered in Devirsquos Mithila style ldquoThe minute you are shut in you begin to think of everything one takes for granted which is the outdoors and freedom so I put my characters outside the limits of the four walls of the houserdquo says Broacha who did her part first after which the incomplete canvas was sent off to Devi For Devi who worked in schools in villages like Kothia Hatha and Kharakh during the lockdown both teaching their children and creating art on their walls the collaboration brought great joy inspiration and an opportunity to learn of another artistrsquos stylemdashthe two sets of ideas colours and elements just falling into place ldquoAyesharsquos strength lies in her Madamjisrdquo says Hundekari who helped to facilitate many of the pairings between the artists and artisans ldquoShe doesnrsquot glamorise them choosing to depict women with cellulite on their thighs wearing short dresses Her works are authentic and represent daytoday life On the other hand Devirsquos work is very intricate So there was a contrastrdquo Moreover she points out that Madhubani as a medium was traditionally used by painters to narrate daytoday incidents to the kings So the idea of three urban women relaxing in the middle of a jungle unaware of the beauty that surrounds them was also pointing to our own daily reality and suited the Madhubani form wellChoti TekamBroacha says that while a project like this offers enormous scope to combine ideas techniques and talent and produce attractive art she was also apprehensive because traditional artists are very talented in their fine detailed work far more than a lot of urban artists who tend to be bolder in their work and more abstract and graphic ldquoI was concerned that what I did would fall short by a fair margin of what they did on the same canvasrdquo At the same time she points out that while she has been a fan of folk artists for a long time she has also realised that they tend to get repetitive in the kind of work that they produce ldquoThey tend to put out work that has sold or is popular and keep doing the same kind of work You see the same themes colours and that gets old For the amount of labour that is put into a piece of work people will just walk past it without even looking in an exhibition They need a bit of push to understand what the market is looking for in terms of becoming a little more contemporary I think working with people like us gives them that perspective and people like me can learn a lot from their techniques and skill Itrsquos a winwin if you can put it togetherrdquoThe series also includes Goddess of the Sea by Deepti Nair and Rupsona Chitrakar Patachitra and 23 Steps to Divinity by Uttara Joshi and Thilak Reddy KalamkariCritic and curator Uma Nair expresses concerns about the pricing of art and the proportions in the share of profits when indigenous artists are involved with contemporary artists the former often being exploited and paid insufficiently for their contributionsVishakha SinghVishakha Singh VP WazirX NFT Marketplace on the other hand speaks of how NFTs have revolutionised consumption and investment in art making it accessible to the common man and helping in increasing awareness of indigenous artwork within Gen Alpha and GenZ who comprise majority of the NFTCrypto and blockchain community