Painters, Poets, Performers: The Patuas of Bengal | Pick up your copy now!

Add the visually rich and informative Painters, Poets, Performers: The Patuas of Bengal to your library!

Written by Ritu Sethi, a book on the history and evolution of 'Patachitra' (literally, 'painting on cloth or scrolls'), with an overview of the narrative tradition of pictorial storytelling and its talented, polymath makers.

What sets the book apart from others in the field is its examination of a landscape that has stretched over time and space, connecting the traditional to the changing language of contemporary practice. Where many similar traditions have quietly vanished or are endangered, the ways in which the Patuas have mediated with modernity adds to the critical debate on the positioning of these traditional arts within the context of the contemporary art scene.

In this book, the need to develop a canon for the traditional - modern, situating it within its context, is viewed from multiple points. The insights on this increasingly complex theatre of operation are a must-read for all those interested in visual and performative arts and cultures, and their future in this digital age.

This book is supported by Infosys Foundation.

To know more about the story behind this art form, click here. The book is priced at Rs 500/- (exclusive of domestic courier charges). Your purchase will support 25 years of grant-making and counting.