The photographer in Emmanuel Lenain took over as a French entourage, headed by the ambassador, navigated the bylanes of north Kolkata on Wednesday morning.
“I have a book coming out this April. It would be on my pictures of India and Raghu Rai’s pictures of France. It contains pictures of Kolkata too,” he said, smiling, as he trained his Leica camera on a piece of sculpture at the gateway of Kumartuli. To many in the group, it looked like a not-so-successful likeness of Joseph Stalin. On enquiry, however, the statue turned out to be of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first President of Bangladesh. But the point was made: Kumartuli gives birth to more than gods!
With three days left for Saraswati Puja, the goddess of learning and the arts was the presiding deity at the idol-makers’ hub.
The alleys that meandered through the studios threw up surprises, passing by a quaint radio repair workshop here or a shola pith topor shop there, flaunting pictures of brides and grooms in the traditional headgear, or, in one case, leading out to the Strand, allowing a glorious view of the Hooghly.
“This place reminds me of the old city of Fes in Morocco. There too specialised craftsmanship is on view with the carpets being made, stage by stage,” said Didier Talpain, the French consul general, who had done his military service stint in the African country.
The second stop of the morning was Chitpore. Here a team of 38 students — eight from École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture, Paris La Villette, and 10 each from Techno India University’s School of Architecture in Kolkata, Bharati Vidyapeeth College of Architecture, Navi Mumbai, and College of Architecture, Trivandrum, were camping for a week, mapping the area on the riverbank.
“Tourists usually visit Kumartuli and Jorasanko Thakurbari at two ends of Chitpore. But we are highlighting the entire 4.5km stretch as an integrated heritage corridor, marked by not only great mansions and important zones but also artisanal, industrial and manufacturing economics played out on the street by diverse communities, faiths and occupations,” said conservation architect Kamalika Bose.
This is the second time that such a workshop is happening here, the first having been in early 2020. “The outcome will be displayed at Alliance Française du Bengale on February 7 and then at Techno India University, Salt Lake,” said Rita Deshmukh, a teacher at the Mumbai college.
“C’est bon,” said consul general Didier Talpain (extreme left) as he took a sip from a clay cup. “Yes, it’s good,” the ambassador agreed of the masala tea served at a stall in the artisans’ hub. Nicolas Gherardi, country deputy director of Institut Français, and Alliance Française du Bengale director Nicolas Facino (extreme right) enjoyed their cuppa as well.
A poster of the Chitpore project, titled Urbanity of Occupations, illustrated by two artistes from Leewardists, being gifted to the ambassador.
French consul general Didier Talpain, an accomplished flautist, stopped to click an idol of Lord Krishna. “The flute in his hand is different from the one we use in Western orchestra. But it reminds us that music is universal,” he said.
The ambassador takes a picture of the city’s first KC Das shop at 304 Rabindra Sarani, now in a derelict state. The signage at the confectioner’s describes it as the inventor of rosomalai and names rosogolla and sandesh as its specialities.
Architecture students and teachers from France and India demonstrate the work they have been doing over the last week.
A sketch done by students tracing the unloading of imported timbre at the Kidderpore or Haldia dockyard, their transportation to Jorabagan and storage in warehouses nearby.
The visitors passed by the local fish market en route to a pottery shop
The ambassador passes by shops selling only lemons at a corner of Nutan Bazar. “That’s rather niche, isn’t it?” he commented. All Pictures by: B. Halder