Join us at Arthshila Santiniketan for our book discussion session titled “Painted Songs Continuity and Change in Indian Folk Art” led by Rahul Majumder.

DETAILS:
19 March 2025 | Wednesday
6.00 pm onwards

Since the mid-1990s, artist-researcher and ethnographer Thomas Kaiser has been engaged in the systematic collection and documentation of Jadopotua scrolls, [alongside Bangla potua scrolls, with a particular focus on Naya and other sites.] His extensive and sustained involvement with the marginalized Jadopotua community, primarily located in the Purulia and Dumka regions, culminated in a significant exhibition at the Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich (VMZ) in 2012. This scholarly endeavour was further consolidated through the publication of Painted Songs: Continuity and Change in an Indian Folk Art, which examines the evolution and persistence of this rural artistic tradition.

The forthcoming book discussion at Arthshila, Santiniketan, led by researcher Rahul Majumder—who recently defended his doctoral dissertation titled “Myths, Images, and Songs: A Study in Tracing the Trajectory of Performative Pictorial Tradition of Jadopotua Scroll in Eastern India”—offers an analytical and personal engagement with the study of the Jadopotua community focusing the performative and pictorial dimensions of this tradition, and situating it within broader eclectic socio-cultural and historical contexts. The discussion will also explore the foundational role of Kaiser’s Painted Songs in shaping and informing Majumder’s research as a secondary material, highlighting its critical influence on contemporary scholarship in the field.

We look forward to your presence and lively discussions!