General Studies: Art and Craft

In the heartland of India iies the State of Madhya Pradesh. Filled with lush forests, magnificent monuments, exuberant festivity and blissful solitude. In this land of wonderful and contrasting variety, handicrafts lend a touch of mystique - a charm unique to Madhya Pradesh. They radiate an aura, exhibit hereditary skills, whisper painstaking craftsmanship and evoke an urgent desire to learn more about the land and its colourful people.

A deftly woven silk or a cotton blended saree. Block printed fabrics, stuffed leather toys or floor coverings. Folk paintings, bamboo, cane or jute. Woodcraft, stonecraft, ironcraft. Metalcraft, terracotta, papier mache. Zari work (gold thread embroidery), ornaments, dolls., each handcrafted product of Madhya Pradesh is charming enough to sweep you off your feet.

Bamboo & Cane

Bamboo & Cane occupy an important place in rural life: utility articles such as agricultural implements, fishing traps, hunting tools and baskets are made of bamboo. In Madhya Pradesh these are generally made by a community called Basor or Basod, who sell them in weekly markets.

Shahdol, Balaghat, Mandla and Seoni regions of Madhya Pradesh are main bamboo producing centres. The artisans have skillfully harmonised their age-old knowledge and techniques with new designs, to meet modern market demands. The Gond, Baiga and Korku tribal communities are highly skilled in the craft of bamboo.

Dools

Cute little dolls made out of small cloth pieces are produced in Gwalior, Bhopal and Jhabua. The work of Battobai, a craftswoman from Gwalior has achieved international fame.
The dolls made here are interesting pieces of work, influenced by different cultures and traditions of India mirroring the diversity and unigueness of the country

Floor covering Durries

The floor coverings of Madhya Pradesh consist mainly of durries and carpets in a rich variety of designs, A durrie. essentially a thick cotton woven fabric, is meant for spreading on the floor, and is made all over Madhya "Pradesh, especially near Sironj.

The basic technique of weaving a durrie in its most primitive form, can be seen in rural areas. The more universal durries are made by women in their homes, in the 'Purija' technique. They are usually in bold patterns and bright colours with folk designs.

Apart from Sironj, Jhabua, Jabalpur and Shahdol are leading centres of durrie weaving in Madhya.

Cotton and wollen Punjab durries handwovinen various colors are designed to suit traditional as. well as modernhome decor, are generally based on kilndesigns, geometric traditional motifs & animal and human figures

Carpets

Since the muga! times, Gwalior in Madhya Prudish has carved a niche for its self in the wearing of carpets.

Later on; weaving also began in the Shahdoi & Mandla belt. The carpet weavers of Madhya Pradesh are undisputed masters of not only weaving carpets but dyeing also.

The colouring was earlier done by means of natural dyes, but presently it is being done with synthetic dyes as well. Pattern is an integral part of knotted carpets and traditional patterns have continued with varying combinations since the last 200 years.

Wool/en carpets are available in vibrant colours with both floral and geometric designs. The weavers have used their ingenuity to transform traditional motifs into modern designs; drawing from the treasury of ancestral motifs: trees and flowers in carefully blended colours.

Folk Painting

Throughout different periods of history, we find a definite established tradition of painting on various objects, particularly on intimate objects of everyday use, floors and wails; and in almost every instance the depiction being associated with some ritual.

Folk paintings of Madhya Pradesh, specially the wall paintings of Bundelkhand, Gondwana, Nimar and Malwa are living expressions of people, intrinsically jinked with the socle-cultural ambiance of the area. They are not mere decorations but also spontaneous outpourings of religious devotions.

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