A Kolkata-based artists’ collective that transformed a poverty-stricken forest village of West Bengal into an art hub has now taken up another village nearby to equip its inhabitants with skills that could bring it some popularity and, therefore, prosperity.
It was in 2018 that artist Mrinal Mandal, a graduate of Kolkata’s Government Arts College and a founding member of Chalchitra Academy, chanced upon the village of Lalbazar, near Jhargram district bordering Jharkhand, during his search for rural art. He was so captivated by the beauty of the village — inhabited by members of the Lodha tribe, most of them farm labourers — that he made it his second home.
He had the villagers trained in various forms of traditional art — from dokra to katum-katum to kantha-stitching — and thus not only got them an additional source of income but also beautified the village with art. “Three elections took place during these five years — Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha and panchayat — but not once did the walls get painted with political symbols or slogans. They were always filled with artwork,” Mr. Mandal said of Lalbazar, which was given the sobriquet of ‘Khwaabgaon’ (village of dreams) by one of its distinguished visitors.
“Now we are turning the village of Konedoba into another Khwaabgaon. While Lalbazar is to the east of Jhargram, Konedoba is to the west. The two villages are about seven kilometres apart. And unlike Lalbazar, which is inhabited by the shy Lodha people, Konedoba is dominated by the Santhal tribe, which has a strong culture and its own language. But many of the Santhal arts are lost in time — we will try to get that back,” Mr. Mandal said.
Nearly 20 members of the Chalchitra Academy, including artists, are camping in Konedoba, where they have been conducting art and handicraft workshops since August this year. In January 2024, they are bringing Anita Devi and Sajwa Devi, two well-known artists of Sohrai painting — aboriginal method of mural art — from Hazaribagh to teach the residents of Konedoba.
Walls of many homes in Konedoba, in fact, are already adorned with artwork done by locals. “Khwaabgaon is a public art project. It is running on donations by well-wishers. When we first came to Lalbazar, it was like a blank canvas; no visitor ever set foot in it. We started adding colour to it, and now, five years later, the village is attracting tourists, something that is highly satisfying for us artists. We plan to do the same with Konedoba,” Mr. Mandal said.
