The art gallery at Kumatuli, now falling to pieces. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

To meet a long-standing demand of the artisans of Kumartuli, the state government had gifted them an art gallery. But the artisans? association that managed the gallery was forced to close it a few months after its inauguration in January 2001 by chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

?The idea was ridiculous. The gallery is only 200 sq ft and there are around 400 established artisans in Kumartuli. How can we showcase their works in such a cramped space?? asked Mintu Paul, joint secretary of Kumartuli Mritsilpo Sanskriti Samity, the executive body of the gallery.

?The chief minister had promised during the inauguration that 2,000 sq ft would be provided for the gallery, but we are yet to hear anything else about it,? Paul added.

The gallery, on the ground floor of Binayak Bhavan, at 501, Rabindra Sarani, is now a dilapidated room containing works of a few artisans. ?The roof leaks during a downpour,? Paul told Metro.

?A senior official of the culture and information department once told us that the government had granted an annual allocation of Rs 2 lakh for the upkeep of the gallery. But neither has any paperwork been done to formalise the grant nor have we received any money. There is not even a urinal at the gallery,? said Paul, who himself is an artisan and runs a successful business at Kumartuli.

Irked, the Samity had closed down the gallery a few months after its inauguration.

Initially, the Samity had kept the gallery open to the public for free. But after a while, it found it difficult to bear the maintenance cost on its own and decided to charge an entry free of Re 1. But even that didn?t solve the problem. ?The entry fee brought us Rs 900 in the first month, whereas the minimum we need even for routine upkeep is around Rs 10,000 a month,? Paul claimed.

Gradually, reputed artisans withdrew their works from the gallery, fearing damage due to lack of maintenance.

?Kumartuli has a yearly turnover of around Rs 10 crore. Besides, people from other professions do a business of around Rs 5 crore by supplying us various material. The export potential of our works is worth around Rs 40 lakh. Can?t we expect a gallery of our own?? asked an anguished Paul.

?Whenever people think of us, artisans of this 300-year-old Kumartuli, they visualise us as making idols only. But that is not true. We also create other works of art and wanted to exhibit them in the gallery. The chief minister?s initiative was praiseworthy, but, unfortunately, nothing came out of it,? Paul signed off.