Thirty school and college students picked up the basics of wood carving at a daylong workshop at Maker’s Loft on Ballygunge Park Road on Wednesday. Teaching them the skill were makers of traditional Gamira dance masks from Kushmundi in South Dinajpur, two internationally recognised woodworkers from the UK and the director of the Norwegian Crafts Institute.

The workshop, part of Carve Out — an ongoing exhibition of wooden masks, was organised by banglanatak.com, British Council, Calcutta, Rural Craft Hubs of West Bengal and the Norwegian Crafts Institute. The “masterclass with a difference” 
by Shankar Das, Tulu Sarkar, Nandi Sarkar and Dipak Sarkar — traditional artists from Kushmundi — left Robin Wood of the UK craving for more. “It was only a brief taste,” said Robin, who along with JoJo Wood experiments with the timber of apple, peach, pear and other trees. Both expressed their wonder at gamhar wood and the indigenous tools used by the artists.

JoJo wished there were more women mask makers and suggested that the artists diversify from decorative pieces to creating modern utility items. For Eivind Falk of Norway, it was an “exchange of knowledge”.

Reporting by Sebanti Sarkar
Pictures courtesy: banglanatak.com