Showcasing tribal art

JSPL Foundation, managed by Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, today announced taking Rashtriya Swayamsiddh Samman at the national level to recognise talent at the grassroots level. Yesterday they launched an initiative to promote, preserve and propagate tribal art and crafts of India by organising a workshop in Dhokra (bell-metal) art at Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University (JNAFAU) in Hyderabad.

Shallu Jindal, President, JSPL Foundation says, “Our aim is to provide artists from the tribal hinterland of the country a national platform to promote, preserve and propagate their art forms. Christened SwayamShilp (My Art), we are organising a series of workshops throughout the country on different forms of tribal arts and crafts from across India. The initiative will bring art and the artists of these varied genres onto a national platform and give them an opportunity to showcase their craft for a bigger market.”

About Dhokra workshop in city she says, “We have award winning artist Purnachanda Pradhan, who was awarded the Best Artisan by the Ministry of Rural Development, GOI in 2009. The workshop at JNAFAU will be held from November 30 to December 9. The workshop is being conducted by noted Dhokra artist from Ektaal village in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh, Purnachanda Pradhan, who has been engaged in the craft since childhood and was felicitated by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India as Best Artisan in 2009.

A total of 25 students and faculty are participating in the workshop, which will be held once in three months and next in line are art forms from Odisha and Jharkhand, states that have a sizeable tribal population. Other activities that SwayamShilp will undertake in the future are conducting symposiums on tribal art as well as finding ways to promote artists and provide them with a level playing field on the national stage.