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The small village of Naya Pingla in West Midnapore is approximately a three-hour drive away from Kolkata. In this village, almost every resident is an artist. Several walls of their mud houses are covered in paintings and all of them use the surname Chitrakar. They practice the ancient folk art of Patachitra; ‘pata’, derived from the Sanskrit word ‘patta’ meaning cloth, and ‘chitra’ meaning painting. Traditionally, these artists or Patuas traveled from one village to another, unfurling long cloth scrolls they’d paint while singing a ‘Pater Gana’, a composition that explains the story of the painting. Over time, these travelers settled in Naya, painting on themes ranging from mythological stories, societal issues, and commentary on current events.
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In 1980, Anwar Chitrakar was born into this community of practitioners, keeping the oral-visual storytelling tradition alive. He started training under the guidance of his father Amar Chitrakar. Whenever his father stepped out of the house to go to the market or run some errand, As he grew older, at 12 or 13, he started realizing that although his father, elder brother, and sister were hard at work all day, their home wasn’t running smoothly. With his father’s blessing, he became a tailor, a job he kept for 10 years.
Eventually, he started noticing the growing interest in Kolkata’s art world in the Patuas. There was a handicrafts expo that brought the community much attention. Soon, people were visiting the village to better understand the art form and purchase their paintings. During this time, several people came to meet his father and took an interest in the family of artists. He observed that they weren’t as interested in him as they were in his brother and sister. Although his life as a tailor was paying the bills but also took away the joie de vivre which art gave him. This led to Anwar’s return to Patachitra.
“I’d realized that being from a Chitrakar house if I don’t make paintings I would not be able to see myself fulfilled. And if I’m going to make paintings, I would do it with my individual touch. Something distinguishable from the crowd.”
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His individuality results from an amalgamation of tradition and modernity, reflected not just in his outlook, but his process as well. For instance, he makes natural colors in keeping with the Patua tradition. Turmeric and marigold lend the artist hues of yellow. White is extracted from the mud found inside nearby lakes. And black is taken from the ink of kerosene lamps. A total of eight colors are stored in coconut shells. When a color is needed, bael-gum, which is collected and stored for years, is diluted with water and mixed into the color, making it ready for use.
Patua artists prepare colors in advance.
What is most striking about Anwar Chitrakar is his endless capacity to narrate tales. On one hand, he approaches his form with a sincere bow to the tradition, and on the other hand, he understands the need to modernize his practice. Apart from the traditional cloth or paper scroll, he began experimenting with newer surfaces like canvas, British paper, and Italian paper. He is also one of the few Patua artists who adds his signature to his works. A romantic revivalist by heart, his interest moved toward Kalighat art when he returned to making traditional Pata paintings.
“So what’s created by mixing two different styles is Kalighat painting.”
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The origins of the Kalighat Pat tradition can be found in the 19th century. In those days as alternate modes of entertainment like radio, television, and cinema started reaching villages, people’s interest in the performances of the traveling Patuas started to fizzle out. This resulted in the migration of several artists to Kolkata, around the Kalighat area, where they began making mud idols of Durga and other deities. Soon with growing exposure to the British paintings of the time these artists started copying the style, but with their traditional style, which began taking the shape of the Kalighat tradition. The artists observed the world of 19th-century Kolkata around them and created satirical paintings about the behavior of the Bengali babus, the British, and the zamindars who fawned over the British.
“A lot of things like these that one couldn’t say directly out of fear, the Patuas could convey through paintings,”
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This idea of giving a voice to the vulnerable is also what he considers the role of art in society. Over the years, Anwar Chitrakar’s paintings have spanned a range of topics, from traditional subjects like the depiction of Radha and Krishna to more contemporary issues like the Saradha scam, Maoist insurgency, HIV, child marriage, and surrogate mothers — often with a touch of humor. Recently, feeling trapped indoors because of the coronavirus lockdown, he couldn’t focus on his regular work.
“So I thought I should do something that makes people think.”
He then started work on a series of 13 paintings about the strange and transitionary nature of the lockdown. In one of them, policemen are upset since there are no cars on the road and they can’t take any bribes. In another, a Bengali babu is amazed by alcohol-based sanitizers and is trying to show his wife the usefulness of wine. His works also acknowledge the benefits being reaped by the environment during this period, how stifling wearing a mask can be, and the isolation, boredom, and hope for a better future that several people are experiencing.
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Forging forward with this idea of outspokenness means that today, Anwar’s works are uniquely contemporary. They have been exhibited in major Indian cities and abroad, and are part of the collections of the Mumbai International Airport and London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, among others. The National Award (2006) recipient is grateful for returning to painting because not being an artist meant breaking his family’s tradition.
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“I feel that my name is Anwar because I make paintings, otherwise what does Anwar even stand for? And today, even as the lockdown has left folk artists struggling, what stays consistent is his pride. Before, I used to feel bad that I’m from a Patua family. Now, I’m proud that I’m from a Patua family.”