The best way to make an art form popular is to pass it on to the younger generation.

The four-day Pyatkar art workshop jointly organised by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA), Ranchi and Kalamandir was an initiative to make the students of Arka Jain University's fashion designing department and young artists aware of the art form.

The workshop, held at the Amadubi-Panijia Rural Tourism Centre from March 20, was inaugurated by IGNCA, Ranchi regional director, Kumar Sanjay Jha.

"The workshop was organised with the aim to provide knowledge about the craftsmanship of Payatkar art form along with its socio-religious significance and tradition of the storytelling songs, to preserve and document this rich tribal cultural heritage," said Jha.

Around 20 students from Arka Jain University and Ranchi participated in the workshop where Amadubi based Pyatkar artists like Vijay Chitrakar, Anil Chitrakar and Kishor Gayen were the resource persons.

"There are so many people including young artists who are unaware of such wonderful indigenous art forms. It is for this workshop that we came to know about this wonderful art form. We learn the techniques and generation of organic colours," said Priya Kumari, a student from Arka Jain University.

In the course of the workshop, participants received extensive training on the unique painting technique of Pyatkar, their strokes and outline; history and projection of organic colours; Santhali plot of Pyatkar and depiction of the folktales. The use of earthly colours and the music and storytelling process of Pyatkar Art.

"We try our best but most of the youngsters in our village do not want to learn and take this art form forward primarily due to the low earning artists have. If students from urban areas can come and learn, there is a hope that the heritage art form will live," said Pyatkar artist Vijay Chitrakar.