How ancient Indian Folk-Art Form Madhubani looks amazingly superb.
An account of workshop conducted on Madhubani Folk-Art form revealing surprising results.
“Oh, I hate Art history theory!” This is my design students’ most common comment before Visual Communication theory lecture. And every time
I overhear this, my lectures turn out to be a blockbuster hit!
That’s because I execute practical projects based on these feedbacks and make students curious about what they should know about their past.
I have been a design teacher for almost two decades now, so practically
I am ancient. I was born in the nineteenth century, so yes, I am!
A true Indian; I strongly believe, the vast treasure of Indian Culture and Folk-Art forms have a strong scope for design. But, this millennial young adult
I deal with now-a-days is attached to modernity. I have to explore modern ways of connecting to them. I plan activities that engage these young minds fruitfully exploring some traditional Art Forms through design projects.
“Art teaches us to see things. Folk Art and kitsch allows us to see outward from within things.” - Walter Benjamin
Recently, I conducted a workshop that explored the traditional Indian
Folk-Art form of Madhubani. The class seemed bored when I narrated how this Folk-Art form is 2500 years old. But as the storyteller in me weaved facts, style and techniques about this vibrant, delicate and complex art form;
they were glued to their seats for an entire hour! And there was a hundred percent involvement from their end when I started demonstrating the
motifs and patterns on the board.
Very soon, all the 55 participants were engrossed in choosing their own themes (mostly Avengers and Joker era!). The only restriction was to adapt and execute a perfect Madhubani painting of their own. Participants who were a bit apprehensive about Madhubani Folk-Art form in the beginning of the workshop, ended up delivering brilliant results by executing the
style and technique perfectly.
What did they learn? Well to begin,
- Participants learnt one of the tangible aspects of Culture and connected with an Indian Folk-Art form.
- They consciously made an effort to understand style and technique of original Madhubani Folk-Art form.
- The students tried to go beyond its visual appeal and understood the Madhubani painting tradition.
So there. I exposed students to a unique composite mixture of history, style and technique. I tried to plant a seedling of appreciating history. Results are there for them to applaud and dig deep into the rich Indian Culture.
I plan to arrange many such workshops in near future revealing other interesting Indian Folk-Art forms. Would you like to attend one and explore the rich Culture of India?
