Village of Painters: Narrative Scrolls from West Bengal: Narrative Scrolls from West Bengal

by Frank J. Korom, Smutko Paul J.

Overview

Village of Painters profiles the West Bengali village of Naya, a small agricultural outpost that is home to a unique caste of itinerant scroll painters. The Patuas of West Bengal are a traditional artisan caste specializing in the production of painted narrative scrolls and the performance of songs to accompany their unrolling. These artisans have been plying their trade in this region of India at least since the thirteenth century and possibly earlier. The book features a wide range of contemporary scrolls and examines how their makers are keeping the art vibrantly alive in the rapidly changing cultural landscape of West Bengal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780890134894
Publisher:	Museum of New Mexico Press
Publication date:	10/16/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	120
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Frank J. Korom teaches religion and anthropology at Boston University and was a research associate of the Museum of International Folk Art, where he served as curator of Asian and Middle Eastern collections from 1993 to 1998. He is also a 2006 recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship.

Paul J. Smutko is a senior collections manager for the Museum of International Folk Art.