Kakoli Mukherjee By Express News Service HYDERABAD: Art has laid siege to the city of Nizams, courtesy the Hyderabad Design Week. From presenting the city’s heritage in cool VR formats to putting up installations, the city is pulsating with the ideas of designers who have gathered here for this event that is being held in tandem with the World Design Assembly. One of the key aspects of the event has been to bring forth local art and artistes from other parts of the country. India’s rich folk and craft traditions do not need any introduction, and two workshops held at Lamakaan provided a glimpse of two art forms from Rajasthan. Portable shrine “If you can’t go to the temple, the temple will come to you” – this is the underlying idea behind Kavaad (Keewad means door in Rajasthani), a unit used for storytelling in Rajasthan since centuries. In this multi-panelled structure that’s shaped like a shrine, each door is akin to a page telling stories through paintings. It’s a layered creation, much like the Matryoshka dolls, the only difference being that the story changes after every door. The last door generally opens to reveal figurines of Ram, Sita and Lakshman. The stories are told or sung by a storyteller, who are the Kaavadiya Bhats hailing from Marwar region. Shubham Tambi, from Indian Institute of Crafts and Design in Jaipur, was conducting the workshops along with her team. She says: “The creation of a Kavaad needs the involvement of three persons. Firstly, a Jajman (patron) contacts a storyteller and gives him money to make a Kavaad. The storyteller then contacts the Kavaad maker, the Suthar, who are generally from Mewar.” The Kavaad may narrate mythological stories related to the Ramayana, Mahabharata etc., stories of local legends and devotees like Meerabai or Kabir, about their own ancestors, or even social themes including girl education, cleanliness etc. “Kavaads can be modified to tell any story. New-age filmmakers and other artistes should use it to narrate trailors, songs etc. Today, there are only 6-7 people left who can make the traditional Marwadi Kavaad. There is a need to preserve these storytelling forms before they are lost forever,” says Shubam. Charpai Weaving Alongside the Kavaad making, Hem Singhji from Bikaner deftly moved his needle to make a charpai, which is a vernacular piece of furniture from Rajasthan. A group of students try to imitate the way his hand moves, making a mini, white charpai, with red motifs in the centre. Hem Singhji is one of the local artistes who teaches at the IICD, making students aware of vanishing local art. “We have been weaving charpais for generations now. It is mainly used for sleeping, but it can be made in various other sizes to make a chair, corner table etc. I make the threads too from cotton and khadi. We can incorporate any design in the charpai. We can even weave in your mobile number! However, we do not use more than three colours to make the cot as it does not look appealing. I was 18 years old when I made my first charpai, and the journey continues. Though women too can make one, this art form has traditionally been practised by men,” says the master weaver. A giant question mark While the workshops had artistes and laymen hooked on, an installation on Hussainsagar Lake was made public. The installation, made by an anonymous artiste named Daku, has been constructed in the shape of a question mark (?) with 3,00,000 upcycled plastic bottles and generates its own energy through solar power. “Single-use plastic is one of the biggest threats to the environment in the modern era. Estimates indicate that there are about 150 million metric tons of plastics floating around our marine environments every day, adversely affecting marine life and ecology” said Daku. This art work, presented by St+art India Foundation, wants to draw our attention to the plastic bottles and other items sucking the life out of our seas and water bodies. The HDW, which will end on October 13, is all about making people pause and think about the inevitable future towards which they are hurtling forward, and how to make it better. — Kakoli Mukherjee kakoli_mukherjee@newindianexpress.com @KakoliMukherje2

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