#Breaking gender stereotypes through women artisans

[wionews]

Breaking tradition, women clay modellers are making Durga idol in Bengal

As Madame Tussaud is for wax modelling, Kumartuli is for clay modelling. As Durga Puja came to be celebrated as 'sarbojanin' neighbourhood festival in Bengal, Kumartoli emerged as the most significant center of making clay models of Hindu deities. Situated in North Kolkata, Kumartoli, for decades, has been extremely dominated by men. The interference of women was strictly avoided. Possibly, such a prohibition could be derivative of Hindu Shastraic injunction against women reading religious texts. For long Hindu religion worshipped women but kept them at bay from playing a decisive role in the performance of religious rites.  Fortunately, times are changing. Slowly but definitely. Clay modelling is a profession in which men are the leading actors but women of Kumartuli are also showing off their brilliance.

Few women in Kumartuli are setting the example for others. China Pal, Mala Pal, Kanchi Pal and Kakoli Pal. They are not only breaking the stereotypes but also doing a good business in Kumartuli among male artisans.

Miniature foldable idols

Mala Pal has been single-handedly taking care of her family studio for the last 3 decades. Mala's brother gave up and did not join the family business. At the age of 15, she had to quit school and started making Durga idols. Despite all hardships and financial problems, Mala emerged as the unvanquished fighter. She has won several state award for her work. Especially, her miniature foldable idols are very famous, and even get exported to UK, Germany and Canada. She is also training young girls to join the profession.

Transgender Durga

China Pal was trained by her father Hemant Pal. Her father died in 1994 since then, it is China who has taken sole responsibility of her father's studio. She said, “After father's death, his regular customer came to me and that was very motivating”. She is now a very famous artisan in Kumartuli. She also mentioned that this business requires a lot of investment at the initial stage. In 2015, she made an androgynous sculpture for a transgender community named Pratyay Gender Trust.

For the first time in the history of the public celebration of Durga Puja, “Ardhanarishvara” idol was worshipped that was crafted by China.

Androgynous sculpture of goddess Durga (Others)

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An artist without a studio

Archana Pal took care of the studio when her husband Nrisimha Pal died. She then trained her daughter Kanchi Pal, and now Kanchi is standing neck to neck with other male artisans. She is giving definitely a stiff competition to others. Kanchi advocates the participation of a larger number of women idol-maker in the Kumartoli workforce.

Narrow and congested lanes of Kumartuli is a workplace for another women clay modeller Kakoli Pal. Kakoli doesn't have a studio. “I have appealed to local authorities to provide me with a studio on rent”, she said. She went through a lot of difficult time when her husband died and left her alone with two other children. She doesn't have any training in idol-making. She was just married off to a male artisan of Kumartuli. Pushed by misfortune, Kakoli just took a plunge in the profession of idol-making for her survival as well as that of her two daughters. And she pulled it off.

Kakoli also said, “I cannot go to remote places to fetch material that is required for idol-making because of safety issues.”

Mala, China, Kakoli and Kanchi, these women are making it really big in the eccentric and male-dominated profession and walking a path-less-taken and, thus, slowly removing the gender gap that exists in the craft and business of clay modelling.

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Lakmé Fashion Week 2017: Inclusivity to take centre stage with #TagFree show

Taking the conversation on inclusivity further with a #TagFree show this season. (Source: Lakme Fashion Week/Twitter)

Breaking stereotypes, the forthcoming season of Lakmé Fashion Week (LFW) Summer/Resort 2017 focuses on “inclusivity in fashion” through its shows, designers and models.

The five-day gala will commence on February 1 at the Jio Garden here.

ALSO READ | Lakme Fashion Week S/R 2017: Kutch artisans to share stage with ace designers

From the first ever plus-size show with a retail brand last season, Lakmé Fashion Week is taking the conversation on inclusivity further with a #TagFree show this season. The #TagFree show will be curated by Kshitij Kankaria, showing designers such as Dhruv Kapoor, Sanchita Ajjampur and Suket Dhir. The show will bring forth women from all walks of life who are labelled and stereotyped by society.

See what else is making news in lifestyle, here

Another highlight this season is the Dharavi project. Godrej India Culture Lab is collaborating with SNEHA, an NGO which has done extensive work in Dharavi for ‘Fashion Funda – A Dharavi design dialogue’ at Lakme Fashion Week. The event will explore the possibilities of design innovation in Dharavi, a hub for artisans who have serviced the fashion industry for decades.

Mohammad Ismail Ansari, an embroidery artisan from Dharavi, has joined hands with fashion designer Jay Ramrakhiani to create an exquisite ensemble that will be showcased at the event.

Ansari and Ramrakhiani will then join Nayreen Daruwala, head of SNEHA and Kruti Saraiya from the Dharavi Design Museum for a panel discussion. Parmesh Shahani, head, Godrej India Culture Lab, will serve as a moderator.

“With the aim of evolving mindsets and creating a more inclusive conversation around fashion, we have opened our runway to diverse and unconventional models and are curating some path-breaking shows that will further highlight our commitment to continue the conversation on inclusivity which we started last season,” Jaspreet Chandok, Head- Fashion, IMG Reliance Ltd, said in a statement.

Transgender model Anjali Lama from Nepal was chosen as one of the winners of the model auditions to walk for the season. The model talent this season will also have a gender-neutral model – Petr Nitka from the Czech Republic who has walked numerous international runways. Janvi Deori from the northeast region — who was one of the winners of the model auditions in the north-east last season — and Nepalese model Varsha Thapa will continue to be part of the model pool this season.

The second day of the event will be dedicated to conversations and experiences around sustainable fashion in India. Lakme Fashion Week has collaborated with Kranti – an NGO that empowers girls from Mumbai’s red-light areas to be agents of social change and Mandeep Nagi of Shades of India – one of India’s textile labels to present a unique presentation.

The event also aims to showcase the work of grassroot level artisans of Kutch and make them a part of the designer talent at the fashion week in a ‘Artisans of Kutch’ show by IMG Reliance.

“We truly believe that beauty is about being confident and unique,” said Purnima Lamba, Head of Innovations, Lakmé.