Sept_13

INSIDE
p68: Yin and yang
p76: The end of Camelot
Etcetera
CULTURE ● LEISURE ● LIFESTYLE ● BOOKS ● MISCELLANY
Photographs by Shilbhadra Datta
Keeping the DREAM ALIVE
The woods of Shonajhuri in West Bengal preserve Rabindranath Tagore’s vision for
Santiniketan, says Bala Karchaudhuri
Tagore’s temple of fine arts,
Santiniketan, is a melting pot
of creativity and a nurturing
ground for artists from near and far.
The various social and cultural
events the university town
hosts—Basanta Utsav, Barsha
Mangal, Nandan Mela, Poush Mela and
Magh Mela—bear testimony to this.
Initiated by Tagore for bringing local
artisans to the fore, Poush Mela (a fair
hosted during the Bengali month of
HERITAGE
Poush in December) was one of the
main platforms where craftsmen could
display and sell their artwork.
However, since the late 19 th
century, the mela has metamorphosed
into a large-scale,
commercialised fair and, therefore,
turned into a major tourist destination.
A senior group of artists felt that
in this fanfare, the mela was losing its
meaning and essence.
“Tagore had a vision for Santiniketan;
progress of the cottage industries
was one of them,” says textile artist
Chitra Ghosh. “However, overlooking
originality, artists these days are working
to fulfil the demands of the urban
market. Art is being mass produced
and, as a result, an artist’s individuality
is suffering.” In 2003, Ghosh,
along with artists Bidyut Roy, Lipi
Biswas, Ashish Ghosh, Gopal Saha and
Jiten Das, led by senior painter-writer
harmony celebrate age september 2013 63