The Metaphorical Wall: A study of three districts in West Bengal. INDIA

Barun Mandal

Assistant Professor

School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada.

Abstract

This paper studies the gradual tradition of the traditional wall –art of Bengal’s rural dwelling units, depicting features form their cultural diversity, to a modern-day campaign-media for elections and poll related campaign. The wall art found in many village houses in Bengal in rural areas includes many types of indigenous art forms and tribal art forms. With the passage of time this wall art form is disappearing, and the walls of their huts are being covered with political graffiti and limericks. The study area chosen is Birbhum, Bankura and Purulia districts in West Bengal, India and in-depth study of the metaphorical wall as it is been referred to, and its transition has been carried out.

Keywords: Wall art, culture, art, politics, political graffiti.

Introduction

Nowadays, in Bengal due to contemporary politically charged culture, wall art is being rapidly seen as only election graffiti art and limericks. Bengal is known for art, culture, food and great personalities. These cultures relate the wall with poetry, graffiti, writing and caricature, walls being used for election campaigning through lot of graffiti. The wall art practiced previously is an integral part of folk culture of Bengal. Villagers are suffering from this type of activity, losing spaces for their own activities. In the age of social media graffiti is still counting in Bengal for reasons mainly concerned with election campaigning.

Objectives: The wall art found in many village houses in Bengal in rural areas includes many types of indigenous art forms and tribal art forms. With the passage of time this wall art form is disappearing, and the walls of their huts are being covered with political graffiti and limericks. The main objective of this article is to document the fast-vanishing wall-art practices and to bring them to the notice to the world.

Wall Art: Fresco, relief or ornamentation on clay walls of rural hutments is a traditional practice in rural Bengal –known as Deoal chittra or wall art. Graffiti, mural and street art all are the part of Wall art, where languages are fluid and Art is subjective. The word graffiti (singular graffito) is said to have originated in the Italian word graffiato (meaning ‘scratched’). Graffiti can be written words as in political slogans, protest message or elaborate wall paintings with spray paints which has developed in the West with the rise of hip-hop culture which again, is a dance and lyrics routine reflecting street-culture and protests against the establishment. Graffiti usually created without permission are mostly related to letter base tags and pieces sometimes with character/background as well. A mural is visual art that is applied directly to a wall. (While most art ends up hanging on a wall, a mural is integral to the wall and can't be, say, moved to a different wall.) Typically, it involves paint, but can also be mixed media (e.g., a mosaic). It can be inside or outside. Street art refers to a work of art that is in a public place, often executed without official permission. It may or may not have a political message associated with it.Mural/wall art is an integral part of human life from ancient to today. From cave painting to tribal art or wall art in rural areas many divert art forms are practiced by indigenous people leaving a mark of their culture around the world. Through the visual aesthetics wall art promote a sense of identity, belonging, attachment, welcoming and community identity in place. It’s a highly effective tools, it’s integrated with public and hold great significance for mankind, as they depict life activities.

What the graffiti painting political parties are supposed to do under the Election Commission rules: Take written consent from wall owner and submit the same to the local police at least three days before the paint job commences. Give a written undertaking with the promise of restoring the walls, at their own expense, to their “original hue” immediately after the voting process is over and before counting starts. Should use “easily removable” colors like water colors or lime-based colors.

Case study:

The study area that has been chosen are Bankura, Birbhum and Purulia districts in the state of West Bengal in India, where different communities lives together- ‘Santhal’ being one of them. Santhal –a local word represents a Tribal community. All the mud walls used to explore their expression through paintings and relief works, flora, fauna, pets, trees, wild animals and abstraction of the nature. Nowadays political agendas are occupying their places with their sign and symbol.

Figure 1 : Geographical location of West Bengal

Study of exiting situation: As soon as the election dates are declared there is a rush among the various political parties to capture the walls. The walls are quickly white washed and names of the party who have ‘captured’ it written at the bottom of the space, it is a common sight in the state, The graffiti - some witty, some satirical and some thought provoking - are an inseparable part of any election in West Bengal since 1952. Poll graffiti is still the cheapest form of campaigning. No matter what the evolution in campaigning methods might have been, the graffiti with the candidate’s name, witty messages and slogans still impact the voters in an effective way. The influence came from China and Russia where decades ago the communist started putting up their agendas on wall to showcase. The famous character coming through cartoons and catches their famous poses to get connected much more with people. One of the logical reasons behind doing this to communicate properly with masses about minimum of information about leader, work supposed to be done for villagers and to imitate opposition with legendry slogans. The wall magazine is proper way to portray their view. At the same time wall are used for apology as well (only the issues related with elections).On the other hand, Bengal is famous for her own art and culture where the wall is one of most and popular medium to show case their talent. In rural areas people use wall as medium of expression. Art work usually drawn by the people with local materials and use to choose subject matter from their daily life, believes, mythological and somewhere religion base. The metaphor “wall of separation” has long been used by some political figures and commentators as a call to exclude the teachings of religion of politics and religiously rooted morality from participation in political debate concerning public policy. Those who espouse such moral teachings in an attempt to shape the political agenda are scorned and ridiculed for infecting the public forum with their sectarian and, by implication, un-Indian discourse. It also proves that its power to appeal to voters has not diminished in the age of fashionable social media campaigning. All political parties have vouched for it importanceThe importance of wall writing can be gauged from the fact that reports of clashes over wall writing are quite common in rural and carbon area of the state. [Figure: 2 - 7 below]

Figure 2:Source: https://www.anandabazar.com/state/lok-sabha-election-2019-narahari-mahato-in-the-wall-writing-bjp-yet-to-name-candidate-in-purulia-1.973206

Figure 4: Source: https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/XqqKQ9xDVOsfKlau Figure 5: Source:

http://www.sayonkumarsaha.com/graffiti-the-old-campaign-

How wall Art was before it was replaced by election graffiti and limerick:

Different communities from West Bengal have exposed their thoughts, culture on wall in unique way while using the local material like cow-dunk, china- clay, indigo, natural colors from fruits and vegetables. Women, mainly housewives aged 30 and above, paint the walls of their homes using mud and natural pigments like rice and flour. Sometimes, they use cloth swabs or chewed twigs from the local sal tree as brushes. Santhal (Tribes) from Birbhum, Purulia and Bankura used their own traditional culture [such as Badna (small and Big), Shikar (Hunting deer, pig, birds, rats etc.)] converted and communicated through painting on wall –normally known as tribal art which didn’t use for commercial purpose.The aboriginal of this soil that is tribal folk, the silent workers with their long stride for existence through many centuries also makes excellent pieces of craft items with their imaginative mind. The land of literates having jungle territories, their imagination can put life to inanimate object of nature in the form of art.All these [Fig: 8 - 15] aesthetic works are accomplished beautifully on mud walls of houses of the villagers from Purulia, Bankura and Birbhum districts. This socio-cultural study opens up the ways of discussing the forms and features of arts, drawings and paintings today in a regional as well as the global context. For this, both the primary as well as the secondary source of materials is taken into account. All the artworks speak about their relation with nature. All these beautiful works of art and paintings reveal that there is an inseparable bond between the human beings and the nature. Regarding the people, this eternal truth is highly reflected in their every walk of life. Arts and drawings of various flowers, trees and animals, harvesting, fertilities and marriage on mud walls can be noticed around the front door and other sides of the houses. As a strongest medium –wall have been used to explore the traditional culture. Bold lines and form of these paintings there is rawness on wall unlike people around rural areas. Peoples believe that mural are considered to brings the good luck, where bold form of tree refer the male and flower stands for feminine beauty and fertility. Nowadays this traditional art practice for younger generation is decreasing cause of political writing, mobile phone and internet.

Figure 4: Source: https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/XqqKQ9xDVOsfKlau Figure 5: Source:

http://www.sayonkumarsaha.com/graffiti-the-old-campaign-

Figure 6: Source: https://twitter.com/cpim_westbengal/status/989398674433363968

Figure 7: Source: https://www.indiacontent.in/kanaipur--police-and---rapid-action-force--raf--personnel-conduct-a-flag-march-a/pr-966070/?

Figure 8: Bhisnupur Village (Source: https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=29829)

Figure 9: Shilpagram Hatimara :

Figure 10: Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1609976415794976&set=pb.100003478992335.-2207520000..&type=3&theater

Figure 11: Source https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2483992691685365&set=pcb.2483993365018631&type=3&theater

https://www.wikiart.org/en/jyoti-bhatt/a-child-in-Figure13:Source:https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1873348252791123&set=pb.100003478992335.2207520000..&type=3&theater

[NB: All the photos belong to rural areas in Purulia, Bankura and Birbhum District in Bengal]

Solution:

The practice of political graffiti writing should practice on government funded wall for that specific purpose only, where political parties can –

1. They can display the chart of completed government project work along with its cost, time period.2. By whom it observes along with details of government rules and regulations.3. Public wall should be use by their own choice, whether they can allow political writing /graffiti on wall or to

draw something fruitful for the children.4. In modern lot of graphics work came to world where they can campaign digitally or through television news

channel.

Conclusion:

A vibrant government policy can endure and be affective only if grounded on such fundamental moral values as equality, fairness, freedom, compassion for the particular community. And morality is inseparable from the teachings of politics on the nature and condition of the human person and people’s relationship to their Creator. The moral values of the great artistic and religious traditions practiced on wall, which have sustained and enriched world culture through the ages, should not be exiled from the public domain and thought because of a metaphor whose true meaning has been distorted by some who possess an abiding political influence on the public. The public needs to hear the voices of a religiously based morality based on art, so that public affairs may be nourished by their ideals of justice and equity.

Acknowledgements:

The author is very thankful to the photographer, newspaper and other resources to bring out the contemporary situation regarding wall mural on cited districts.

Figure 14: Source: https://bengaltourism.blog/2017/08/11/tourism-based-on-architecture/20161113_130250/

Figure 15: Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2130504840408795&set=pb.100003478992335.-2207520000..&type=3&theater

References and Image attributions: a. https://www.thehindu.com/elections/lok-sabha-2019/in-the-age-of-social-media-graffiti-still-counts-in-bengal/

article26555688.ece

b. (http://www.media4growth.com/author/ria-banerjee) - April 08, 2019

c. https://www.financialexpress.com/elections/lok-sabha-elections-2019-in-west-bengal-poll-graffiti-limericks-find-favour-in-the-age-of-social-media/15325%E2%80%A6

d. https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/west-bengal/paint-brush-and-permission-farce/cid/1263953

e. https://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/the-statement-on-the-wall/article5951228.ece

f. Figure no 2 has taken from google.in

g. https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=29829

h. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2130504840408795&set=pb.100003478992335.-2207520000..&type=3&theater

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l. https://www.anandabazar.com/district/purulia-birbhum-bankura/lok-sabha-election-2019-a-tmc-supporter-allegedly-spread-ink-on-bjp-s-wall-writing-in-suri-1.971094

m. https://twitter.com/cpim_westbengal/status/989398674433363968

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