You may have come across white drawings of conch shells, flowers, footsteps of goddesses, etc, drawn against a characteristic red background.
This ritualistic folk art is synonymous with the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand and is known as aipan art. While the patterns of drawings have evolved in recent years, traditional aipan art was heavily focused on objects of nature and geometric designs.
A decade ago, the Kumaon region would boast of this form of art with the empty walls decked in red and white designs and the festive seasons incomplete without it. However the same cannot be said for today.
The sightings have become fewer and the tradition of the aipan is rarer.
So when Minakshi Khati, a 24-year-old artist, made this observation while she was in college, she wanted to change the status quo.
“I wanted to bring back the traditional aipan, which is the pride of Uttrakhand, and retain its cultural significance,” she says to The Better India. But she adds that to revive something, one must understand its importance in the first place.
What is aipan art?
Derived from the word ‘arpan’, which translates to ‘writing’, the aipan art is done by using the last three fingers of the right hand.
A paste is made from rice and the desired patterns are then traced onto the red background. Usually done on empty walls, courtyards of the home and temples, the art is also synonymous with the festive season as it holds that the patterns are a way of invoking the divine and keeping evil spirits at bay.
Growing up, Minakshi would hear of this as well as observe the art being predominant in her state.
“Grandmothers would pass the tradition on to their daughters and they would pass it on to their daughters, thus continuing the cycle. It was a generational art form,” recounts Minakshi, adding that as a kid she would often trace patterns with the rice paste with her grandmother and mother.
But in the years to come, this changed.
“As I grew up I began to notice how the art form began to get rarer, not just in families, but even in social contexts,” she says. To this, she adds that ironically, while the birth state of aipan art was losing touch with it, other states loved it and held it in high esteem.
Read More at https://www.thebetterindia.com/301456/aipan-girl-revives-traditional-himalayan-art-minakriti-the-aipan-project-gives-jobs-to-local-women/