The conferring of the intangible cultural heritage tag on Kolkata’s Durga Puja by UNESCO has turned the 10-day autumnal festival into a global one in the true sense.
For Behala Nutan Sangha, a global celebration of art means participation by artists from other countries and adding their perspectives to the festival. And to implement that, five Bangladeshi artists have been invited to decorate the club’s pandal, which the Behala club claims is the first such instance in the history of Kolkata’s Durga Pujas.
According to Abhishek Bhattacharjee, one of the main organisers, they had decided to include Bangladeshi artists in February this year, after the main artist SK Tanjilur Rahaman Hemal took part in Behala Art Fest, organised by the same club. “We wanted to include artists from other countries but that doesn’t mean we would have to get them from Europe or South East Asia. Bangladesh is enriched with art and culture and we wanted to have a touch of that culture in our beloved Puja,” Bhattacharjee added.
After the planning stage, three of five artists, all students of Dhaka-based art colleges, reached Kolkata and started their work around three days ago. All the artists have seen Kolkata Durga Puja and wanted to be a part of it.
Hemal told My Kolkata how as an artist, he considered it a big opportunity to work in Kolkata Durga Puja because of the sheer art space provided by the festival.
SK Tanjilur Rahaman Hemal (left) at the drawing table planning the Durga Puja artwork
Talking about the theme, they said they are planning to decorate the puja with the theme of modern human life and how competition is affecting society. “We all are running around in our lives to do something better than others. We compete in every aspect of our lives and that’s why we are using chess pieces to decorate this pandal,” said Hemal, who is also making the clay idol.
The group of artists would use Bangladeshi urban and folk art in their work. “We are using rickshaw art and the colour used by the artists. It is very lively and will add a different perspective,” said Hemal, adding that they have worked in several installations in Bangladesh during the Poila Baishakh celebration, but working for the first time in Durga Puja.
Bangladeshi rickshaw art is more like the truck art in India. Mostly done by mature artists, the paintings and murals show the use of bright colours. It often derives inspiration from Bangladeshi folk culture, this art is on the verge of going obsolete, mostly because the Bangladeshi government has stopped issuing rickshaw licences. So, several artists in Bangladesh are working to keep the art alive.
