About Dhokra Art & Artisian

The Indian handicrafts truly represents the unique cultural heritage of our country. The magnificent and colorful world of handicrafts is an epitome of our rich and glorious past. The sector is un-organized because of diversity in skill and medium varied and disperse in location which also give the handicrafts its esthetic richness and economic importance. The sector represents very important area of activity both culturally and economically. The handicrafts contribute significantly to generate employment and export. Besides this, the handicraft item caters the need of the society because of its decorative and utility nature. The materials used in the trade are natural and easily come to the hand of the artisan community. The skill of craft person transferred these materials into object of great beauty.

The variety and beauty of craft of Eastern India is also legendry and occupies most important place in Indian Craft History. During renaissance of Indian thought and motivations in 19th and 20th century, political and social reforms recognized the importance of Handicrafts industry as a channel of economic re-generation and cultural confidence in the face of colonial onslaught. The version inspired poet Rabindra Nath Tagore’s craft experiment at his university at ‘Shantiniketan’ as well as the stress of village industries which Mahatma Gandhi provided a foundation for Indian struggle towards independence. The craft of Eastern India is unique due to its traditional motifs, color combinations and most important is customer's first choice. As such it occupies a potential market not only in the country but also abroad, Whether the craft is small or big its importance is linked with the tradition and belief of the area.

History of Dhokra Art AKA Lost Wax Casting (Cire perdue)

Majority of the tribal communities living in different parts of the world do not possess their on script. Their tribal oral literature and art is the valuable treasure house and source from which we can have ideas on their thought process, life style and even knowledge of the environment developed in the tribal mind. Tribal art and craft is an integral part of their life pattern, belief, ideas and practices. Furthermore, significance of tribal art and craft in the reconstruction of their social history, aesthetic ideas and technical skill has also been felt by the academicians and researchers in this field. With the help of tribal art and craft, it is possible to relationship and interaction in different levels such as man to man, man to other biotic world in nature and man to the super natural world. Again, with the help of the tribal art and craft, it is possible to trace the path of transformation that tribal community has undergone.

In global context tribal and other analogous indigenous communities, their traditional art and craft need proper attention for their cultural revival and search for identity. Tribal art may also be systematically compared with the early rock art for its meaningful functional interpretation. A concrete methodology as well as a model for ethnographic analogy is required to be developed for the posterity.

It is also interesting to examine that how far the tribal art and crafts reflect their economy, lifestyle, thought pattern and world view. Tribal art is not only utilitarian pursuit and has a definite material, supernatural and aesthetic ends. It reflects their traditional process of communication, symbolic behavior, agonies and aspiration. The non-verbal covert behavior of the tribal groups, especially their group sentiment can best be understood studying their art and crafts. In Indian situation a significant number of tribal communities as also similar other indigenous ethnic entities maintaining and practice their traditional artistic excellence for generations. The myth associated with this craft, the artistic style it represents, the religious texture found involved in it suggest that Dhokra craft may claim its origin to Sumerian culture that once flourished at Mesopotemia, the land of river Tigris & Euphratis, three thousand years B.C.

The period prior to the Aryans in India marked the primitive Proto-Australoid Neolithic tribes who ruled most part of Bihar and Bengal in East India.They had no religion but they believed in ‘spirits’ and their manifestation in art symbols are vertical representations of reality, as they perceived it. To this reality, was added the ‘animus’ of the spirit and all the figures they sculpted in metals still have the primitive force of early man, which is a unique feature of art of mankind.

Description of craft persons and craft

This art has influenced modern Cubists and Surrealists and can be found in Africa, New Guinea, Chile and wherever the primitive minds worshiped nature, and the spirit, inherent in all natural symbols. Metal is the earliest medium of at form invented apart from cave paintings. Some of these unique manifestations of the primitive mind still survive in groups of artists and artisans.

The artisan group practicing this crafts were of migratory character and move from one place to another in different season for the need of the people of the area as per their belief, since generation back. The craft mainly associated with the tribal culture and their belief. ‘Dokra’ the word itself depicts / mean the ‘oldest’. After growth of human civilization and development of communication system, the artisan community remain in different area to cater the need of the market which is now identified as craft cluster. According to their stay in different place / states all of them are falling OBC community and in certain area they are categorized as schedule cast. The craft cluster in Eastern India are as under.

AREA OF CONCENTRATION

The total number of artisans in the entire region is two hundred fifty and out of which one hundred fifty are female artisans. But now the number is gradually reducing due to in-adequate marketing channel and exposure to outer market, even after giving best contribution to the society to keep the age-old traditional craft alive. Their master creation has been recognized by the people and Government of India contented National Award to some legendary artisan in the trade. Socio economic status of the ‘Dhokra’ artisans community is quite poor. They are socially back word, because of their illiteracy and customary habit of taking local made wine etc. In spite of growth of social structure of Indian community, the pace of social development of this community is negligible. Economically too, they are in hand to mouth stage. For buying their raw materials they basically depend on the person who give the order to take some advance from him or to borrow from the village money lenders on higher rate of interest basis with the assurance to return back the money after his product sold in the market. In this process they left nothing in there hand, hardly left few pennies just to buy their bread.

Threat

The artisans are making this craft for generations and the art is passed down from one generation to the next. For a craftsman, his work is his ideology; the creation is an inter involvement of mind, imagination, emotion and spirit- it is a result of years of disciplined training from his forbearers. This is the main line of demarcation between a person who produces an object in a factory by his hand with the help of machines, but what emerges from his hand work is not determined by him, and one who create it himself. All over the world, in many countries, industrialization has been infiltrating at a very fast speed which has resulted in a slow and steady decline of the local craft traditions. This is surely not because industrialization is a threat to the craft but because a craft unit can never compete with the industry which represents a corporate power backed by heavy finance, mass production and a well-organized efficient marketing system.

DOKRA PROCESS

The ‘Dhokra’ items prepared in the method of “Lost-Wax casting” (Cire perdue) where copper, brass and zine form together and become ‘Bell metal’ after melting. First the artisan make a structure/raw figure of the desired objects by using purified, filtered clay and it get dried in the Sun. Once the clay figure dried the entire object as per the shape covered with wax threads and subsequently the delicate part of the body like eyes, ears, lips, nails etc. prepared in wax paying utmost care and lastly ornamentation made according to the need of the "Object" and as per tradition of the area. When the wax coating work is over the whole object covered with another clay coating and later a thick layer of clay mixed with hux/non plastic items put on the object and a clay chamber is also attached to it to hold the raw brass having a small hole from the chamber to the object. Now the object again dried thoroughly and it is ready for casting.

To cast, a desired quantity of firewood is required in which the object was placed and set in fire. The figures were kept in fire till the brass inside the chamber were melted. In this process the closed chamber containing raw brass kept down and the figure in the up trained. After due time the wax coating inside, melted and a hollow surface create between the inner clay object and the outer clay coating. When the brass come into the stage of liquid, by help of long handle plaier the object turn into reverse i.e the chamber now containing melted brass into upside and the object into down side. In this process the melted brass cover the hollow surface inside the object according to the shape and size and when the object get cooler the upper layer of the clay were broken to get the item inside.

Type of Dokra products

The products in old form are the figure of God and Goddess as per the belief of the area, animal and the theme work based on the local festival, tradition. It may be added here that most of the motifs make as per the belief of the society in old age and nature base. However, now as per changing taste of the society introduction of utility aspect is felt as per its decorative sense. Mainly the products are --

1. Figure of God and Goddess.
2. Figure of animal in peculiar motifs.
3. Lamp stand and Candler.
4. Ashtray and hukkah as smoking apparatus.
5. Incense stick holder and room fresheners.
6. Room and garden decorative.
7. Office stationers and table top items.
8. Corporate gifts and photo framings.
9. Masks, walking sticks, book ends, chess.
10. Bathroom fittings: and hardware items etc. etc.