The Kalaboti Mudra

Kalaboti Mudra is a trust body organised to document folk & tribal traditional technology as this is THE vital part of our cultural history which is eroding rapidly for last two centuries or so. We do feel that most of the traditional artisan and communities are feeling the heat of the changing scenario and evicted from their age old professions with a falling income. They are majestic communities from time immemorial playing magical tri-roles as a creative genius, as a traditional engineer/keeper of indigenous knowledge and obove all marketeers of their products not only in their own backyeard, they use to sell their commodities, experteese throughout the world stage. These are the Communities who created Iron Pillar of Delhi, cave art of Ajanta-Ellora, Barbudur, AnkorVat, numerous Buddhist Hinyan-Mahayan Stupas across the world and thousands of majestic milestones & creativities. Of late new technology, new marketplace, new ethos driving them out from the competition. One can take the case of conch cell crafts persons. They possessed only shankher korat as a tool apart from three or four other. Now technology introduced drill machines, which is gaining ceremonious foothold, most of the traditional craftspersons are evaporating from the social scenario as they could not afford this and those who afford doing these job more and more rapidly and earning money opulently. And we do fear that in the next decade or so this hatiar will be at the history page and may be in the text book.

We have published some of our works at lokfolk.blogspot.com/, or buybengalihandicrafts.blogspot.com/ or kmneinitiative.blogspot.com/.
As the rapid spread of globalization and new technology and new culture in the traditional market space, the village market is shrinking rapidly for the artists and artisans of the rural Bengal. The need to spread and sustain in a new but more sustainable urban market place is a need of the hour. We are practicing a community-based business model to sell their products and disseminate their knowledge, myth, sustainable livelihood through an integrated website throughout the world in a phased manner. The profit will be ploughed back to the communities again as the communities will be in the functional in-charge of the project. Kalaboti Mudra will act as a mere facilitator just now but took vow to handed over this marketing initiative to the traditional communities in near future.
The new generations are reluctant to take communities artwork as their livelihood. This is one of our concerns. Though most of them are genius at their work. Case of Mina Dey of Shitalpati. She was 16 and left her school became one of the finest craftspersons to discover technology and art of the colourful jamdani graphics in shitalpati, even the state award winners could not even do this. The whole family(including Mina) hardly earning Rs.2000 a month by weaving this pati. We do fear that one day she could leave this majastic artwork and become house maid to earn her bread. And this new techniques will be vanished.
KalabotiMudra & LOKFOLK blog trying to encourage new generations to participate in their trade/culture and actively help them to envisage their livelihood and produces in the urban market place. we are proposing a annual scholarships for atleast 20 such young face. we ran pillers to post. no one cares. we have a list of more than 1000 such artisans across bengal.
It is a sad fact that the 4 millennium old Bengal’s folk and tribal art, knowlegebase and crafts was not rightly promoted throughout the world. This is the right time to promote the culture and arts and knowledgebase of these parts of the world. This is not a funded organization. We are doing various peripheral works like erecting theme puja pandal so that some of the community people can earn something. At the same time we are selling these authentic community creations at the market place. Believe us; various emporiums including government owned are flooded with urban fakes prepared by wealthy urban artists supported by governments. These are neither folk nor authentic tribal. The urban wealthy fake artists are eating the bread of these communities by aping their products and posing these are folk and tribal craft or art and eating their livelihood. We are encouraging the communities to undertake marketing. They are very reluctant. they will hardly survive. We have a plan in near future we will hand over both the creation and marketing job to these people who owns these crafts, technology.
thanking you