Terracotta and dokra pieces that will be on display at Rotary Sadan on February 18 and 19. Pictures by Rashbehari Das

In the age of hip designer boutiques and dazzling catwalks, it’s a little oasis that could throw a lifeline to the taantis and dokra artistes, the terracotta clay clan and kantha-stitch craftspeople of Bengal struggling to keep these dying arts alive.

For five years, Dulal Mukherjee, senior architect and chairman of the Indian Institute of Architects’ state chapter, has been nurturing a group of artisans culled with care from Bengal’s remotest recesses. He gave them shelter and work-pad in his verdant garden house in Badu, off the Madhyamgram intersection, a 20-minute drive from the airport. Now he is keen to give them sustenance.

For the first time, the handloom saris and dokra figurines, terracotta pieces and intricate weaves on dhurries created at the crafts village, will be exhibited in the city. The two-day exposition-sale (at Rotary Sadan on February 18 and 19) is aimed at “providing these craftspeople with a proper platform to showcase their rare skills, thus giving them a chance to become self-reliant”, stresses Mukherjee.

The architect, also a self-taught designer, has always had the desire to promote rural crafts, culture and performing arts of the state. “I travelled extensively in rural Bengal and the living condition of some of these craftspeople was abominable. I was particularly pained by the plight of the Nabadwip taantis and decided to try and do something in my own small way.”

Mukherjee started with two potters and then the weavers were brought in at Badu. “I realised these artisans were extremely adroit in the crafts they are engaged in through generations. But they were plagued by a design stagnation and needed some contemporary design inputs for their work to appeal to the urban consumer.”

The architect has since been helping with such ideas and is now preparing to give them a wider forum to display the Leela range of saris, dokra and terracotta pieces and the dhurries.

“To start with, we will test waters in the Calcutta market. With a little support and proper marketing, we can give them a national and maybe even an international market for their creations,” Mukherjee points out.

German consul-general in Calcutta G?nter Wehrmann agrees. “These are wonderful pieces of art and would find a ready market in Europe if packaged and publicised properly.”

Wehrmann’s Leica was seen clicking away relentlessly at a novel preview organised by Mukherjee’s family at the Badu garden house last Sunday.

Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry secretary-general Khokan Mookerji echoes the optimism. “We have lost pre-eminence in many areas over the years. Crafts can be a powerful calling card given the right impetus, and this exhibition could catalyse the exercise of achieving commercial viability,” he says.

Mukherjee, who has also been supporting such endangered dance forms like Gambhira and Natua, Santhal and Chhou at Badu, sees himself doing just that ? playing the role of a catalyst. “It’s neither possible, nor feasible for me to do this alone. We need all the support we can muster to help these talented artistes stand on their own feet and carry this initiative forward,” he says.