A digital repository of West Bengal’s folk traditions at risk of extinction will be created with help from the German government.
An agreement was signed on Monday with the German consulate general by which Kolkata Sukriti Foundation will partner the project, receiving around 60,000 euros.
West Bengal’s folk performing art forms like Pata Khumur, Rabon Kata Naach, Bohurupee, Sapuriya Gaan, Jele Paraar Sang and Hapu will be documented and digitalised under this project.
An organisation called Bhromora, led by Sibabrata Karmakar, has been researching forgotten folk traditions for decades now.
Documentary filmmaker Abhijit Dasgupta joined them in 1975. “Our aim is to create a virtual digital folk museum where one can experience forgotten art forms of Bengal recorded in their pristine form,” Dasgupta said.
The online museum will provide viewers a virtual walk-through in the rural setting in which the music was recorded. Information will be provided in German, Spanish and French, other than English and Bengali.
German consul general Manfred Auster, who signed the agreement with Dasgupta, said the project was undertaken as part of a programme of the German Federal Foreign Office which supports the preservation of cultural heritage worldwide. “The virtual museum, that will be created in nine months, will provide global access to the rich culture of West Bengal,” said Auster.
Those who were present at the signing ceremony at Madhusudan Mancha on Monday got a glimpse of the kind of material that will go into the online archive.
Live performances were presented, under the Bhromora banner, of Biyer Gaan, Hapu, Chang and other folk traditions. “We have a lot of traditions that we not only need to remind ourselves of but our next generation needs to be told about. Take Biyer Gaan, which was a part of Bengali wedding rituals. All weddings now resemble sangeet ceremonies of Bollywood films,” said Raju Raman, former programme director of Max Mueller Bhavan, who compered the programme.
Performers led by PradipTung, from a village near Beliatore, in Bankura, presented Hapu songs. “His grandfather was a Hapu performer but Pradip works as a newspaper vendor to make ends meet,” Dasgupta said.
Tung, 59, is training his grandson Saugata Malla, 12.
Bhuban Khamroi, 66, fromChilkigarh, Jhargram, led theChang team, playing the percussion instrument that he created himself of goatskin and wood. Both he and Tung were delighted at their art being archived for posterity.