August 9 to 14 2024
At The Asiatic Society, Kolkata
NASCENCY: An Exhibition Celebrating Tribal Stories and Indigenous Knowledge
B-CAF, in collaboration with The Asiatic Society, Kolkata and WICCI, presented NASCENCY, an exhibition showcasing tribal stories and indigenous knowledge. This unique exhibition, inaugurated on 9th August 2023, coincided with the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, a day dedicated to honouring the cultural richness and contributions of Indigenous communities worldwide. Held at the prestigious Rajendralala Mitra Bhavan, The Asiatic Society, Kolkata, the exhibition marked the culmination of an 18-month-long project aimed at researching and documenting the oral traditions of tribal stories and indigenous culture. The initiative focused on preserving the heritage of Patachitra, a traditional art form practised by artisans in Bharatpur, a village at the foothills of Susunia Hill in Bankura, West Bengal. The exhibition featured captivating Patachitra paintings created using revived organic colours, a practice intrinsic to this art form but fading due to economic and practical challenges. Through extensive fieldwork, B-CAF identified the artisans’ struggles, including marginalization and the preference for synthetic alternatives over traditional organic colours. Addressing these issues, B-CAF collaborated with the Botanical Survey of India and organized workshops, art residencies, and capacity-building programs to uplift the artisans’ economic status and reintroduce organic painting methods. The exhibits are in the collection of B-CAF.