August 20 – Sept 21, 2025
Santhal Heritage Stories: Janam to Mrityu
presented by L D Museum & B-CAF
at Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Museum
This exhibition showcases a compelling body of paintings that have emerged from “Preserving the Untold”, a year-long collaborative project by Bridging Culture and Arts Foundation (B-CAF) with Artisans. Focused on the endangered oral traditions of the Santhal community, this project breathes new life into rarely documented stories through the lens of Patachitra painting and natural pigment-based practices.
The works on display result from immersive residencies, where Santhal storytellers, traditional Patachitra artists, contemporary visual practitioners and ethnographers came together in co-creation. Rooted in extensive fieldwork and supported by the Botanical Survey of India, the project revived organic pigments and traditional colour-making techniques, reconnecting Santhal art to its ecological and cultural origins. This includes the birth story of Pilchu Haram and Pilchu Buri, seasonal songs, oral histories, and traditional ecological knowledge passed down through generations.
What you see here is not just art; it is a visual archive of memory, ritual and identity. The paintings explore themes of Santhal Culture, ancestral tales, festivals and everyday wisdom, all filtered through both inherited traditions and contemporary expressions. This artistic dialogue bridges the past and the present, the rural and the urban and highlights the power of community-led cultural preservation.
The Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Museum, Ahmedabad, renowned for its commitment to preserving India’s artistic and cultural heritage, has chosen to host this exhibition as part of its effort to bring lesser-known, yet deeply rooted indigenous knowledge systems into wider public discourse. By doing so, the museum aims to expand conversations around living traditions, sustainability and the visual expression of oral cultures.
