Heritage In Trouble

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

Nothing grows in shade. If it's true for grass, it's true for that makeshift village at Crafts Museum, too. Case in point: while thousands throng Pragati Maidan every year to look at assembly-line productions, not many of us have the clue that next-door, craftsmen from all over the country with traditonal handicrafts are waiting to be discovered. Barring a handful of curious foreigners, the courtyards where these craftsmen display their creations, are virtually empty. First it was the weavers, here during October, who complained, and now it's the artisans -- 20 to be precise, who are here to demonstrate their skills at Rajasthani miniature paintings and stone-carved statues of Orissa to colourful stuffed dolls of Madhya Pradesh and bamboo work of Nagaland.

Reason: Not many people are aware of the exhibition. And those who know, aren't much impressed with the work. Durees from Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, are priced between Rs 150 and Rs 450, but there isn't much variety to choose from. The same's true for Adivasi paintings from Madhya Pradesh. Simple tribal tales painted with poster colours on plain white paper could be had for anything between Rs 250 and Rs 500.

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