Children’s Workshop on Creative Story-Telling with Folk Art and Crafts of Bengal
An animation film on Hans-Christian Andersen’s ‘ The Emperor’s New Clothes’ will be developed by Perlefilm, a Danish organization in collaboration with traditional craft-persons and artists from rural Bengal, facilitated by Banglanatak dot com.
The highlight of the film-making is a creative workshop planned with the children of the Patachitra community of Naya on interpreting the story and integrating these local crafts in visualizing and developing the film with puppets, mid and foreground scenes, etc. The creatives of the film will be jointly developed by the artists of Bengal and the technical specialists of Perlefilm and will demonstrate the innovative use of traditional masks of Charida village in Purulia, Patachitra Art of Bengal from Naya village in West Midnapore, and diverse textiles from Bengal.

PERLEFILM

Perlefilm, a Danish organization that produces learning games, animated short films, documentaries, for the iPad, facilitates film workshops for children and educators in schools, kindergartens, museums, etc.
www.perlefilm.com.

BANGLANATAK DOTCOM

Banglanatak dot com is a twenty-year-old UN-accredited social enterprise working towards inclusive and sustainable development of rural marginalized communities using culture-based approaches. International cultural exchange and collaboration to strengthen and promote Indian folk art and culture globally is a major area of its work.
https://banglanatak.com/home

DANISH CREATIVE TEAM

Rikke Hallund is an award-winning animation director from the Danish Film School. She made her debut from the Film School with an award-winning animated TV series, Mira & Marie, for children for DR TV, and has since been dedicated to children’s culture work under the headline:
Digital communication for children with a clear ambition about making quality communication and entertainment at the eye level of children.

Claus Johnsen, the film producer, has been a producer on the award-winning animated films Kaassassuk, The Mother of the Sea, and The Secret of the Rainforest. Claus Has also produced
several podcasts. Claus has most recently launched two apps, Greenland’s History (interactive film tool) and a language application called Qapuk.

ARTISTS FROM BENGAL

Manimala Chitrakar  started painting Patachitra under the guidance of her grandfather Dukhushyam Chitrakar. She is the first woman from Naya who ventured out of her home to showcase her talent.  After her marriage in Chandipur, she began to organize artists there and taught Patachitra painting and songs to them. She returned to Naya, Pingla, and involved herself in the art form. She has traveled across India and places like the UK, USA, Bangkok, Lithuania to participate in exhibitions and to conduct workshops.

Soniya Chitrakar is a young Patua of Naya in Pingla, bearing the tradition with high enthusiasm. She started learning the art of Patachitra during her childhood from her mother, renowned Patua Jaba Chitrakar. Sonia has participated in exhibitions and events across India. She had visited Germany in 2018 where she had also participated in a workshop. She was awarded by the Rabindra Bharati University and has won a State Award in 2017.

Dharmendra Sutradhar started making masks when he was 10 years old. Mask making is a traditional craft for him and many other artists living in Charida village, Purulia. He makes traditional masks meant for Chau dance and several innovative masks based on varied themes. Dharmendra has made masks on literary works like Tasher Desh, religious masks like Pashupatinath, to name a few. He has taken part in almost all the major fairs and festivals in India.
Janmenjay Sutradhar is one of the young Chau mask makers of Charida village in Purulia. He started making masks at the age of eight.  He has traveled to several states and has attended several fairs as a Chau mask artist.
Manoranjan Sutradhar is a Chau mask artist from Charida village in Purulia. He has been making Chau masks since the age of seven and has traveled across India to attend fairs and exhibitions. He is one of the senior Chau mask makers of Charida and holds a position in the Chau Mukhosh Shilpi Sutradhar Samiti.

Bhim Sutradhar is a Chau mask artist residing at Charida village in Purulia. He has been making Chau masks since the age of eight. His first teacher was his father Dwijapada Sutradhar. He has traveled across India to attend fairs and workshops as a Chau mask artist. He makes different types of Chau masks – those meant to be worn during Chau dance performances, those meant to be used as home décor, and so on.