Back to the roots
Shambhu Acharya's pata chitra

Folklore highlighted in Shambhu Acharya's painting

From a tryst of Krishna-Radha to vignettes from the life of warrior-saint Gazi Pir to other folklore, mythology and everyday life--there's a host of pata (scroll) paintings on display at Galleri Kaya till April 16. These vibrant art works are the handiwork of the Munshiganj-based Shambhu Acharya, described in a festival brochure as a famous and the last pata painter of Bangladesh.

Each of the boldly coloured works on display tells a colourful story. In Pata Chitra 1, the central figure is that of Gazi Pir who restores a dead shimul tree to life and helps a distraught milkman by getting his dried up cow to milk again.

Another pata painting, Pata Chitra 3 depicts a Baul singer with an ektara and dhol. The gamut of colours in this work cover brown, red, yellow, blue, green and white. "My scroll paintings are about the pains and pleasures of the masses. In rural areas, Gazi Pir is a very popular figure and that explains my fascination with him," says the publicity shy Shambhu.

Today Shambhu has the onerous responsibility of carrying on an over 400 plus years' age-old family tradition. Traceable to the last five generations, the art of scroll painting encompassed Ramgopal Acharya, his son Ramsundar, his son Prankrishna, Sudhir and finally Shambu. The latter is an able successor to his father Sudhir. Though he is low profile, his works have been widely appreciated both overseas and in Bangladesh. At the current exhibition, most of the works were sold out on the opening day itself.

Shambhu has had an eventful artistic career. Among the major milestones in his life is his 1995 visit to Indonesia as a member of a delegation of Karushilpa Parishad. Here he unveiled his pata paintings on Ramayana and his pet subject--the indigenous culture such as the lives of potters, ironsmiths or fishermen. A little later, Shambhu's art works were on view at a month-long Sonargaon festival.

Then he participated in the Bangladesh Festival in London in 1999. Along with many poets, singers and filmmakers from the country, he had a chance to display his artistic skills. His works were exhibited at the Spitz Gallery and the festival was inaugurated with his pata painting along with a Gazi song. His first full scale art exhibition was held in 2003 at Chitrak Gallery with the support of theatre personality Ramendu Majumder of advertising agency Expressions Ltd.

Though Shambhu has cause to celebrate today, he has an uneasy eye on the future of pata painting. The questions relate to promotion and finding suitable successors in the art. "The need of the hour is patronage," says Goutam Chakraborty, director of Galleri Kaya. There are some good signs on the horizon--as part of the Bangla New Year 1413 celebration, HSBC extended sponsorship to the event.

Then there is a question mark over whether Shambhu's son and three daughters will follow in his footsteps.One reason for hope is that his children show artistic skills. His teenage daughter Shetu has learnt the basics of pata painting just by seeing him at work. Only time will tell if Shambhu's rare talent can be passed on to his children. In the meantime, his ambition is to open an institution in Munshiganj to train young people in the art of pata painting. Shambhu has the last word: "This art form will fade out unless more people are schooled in it. What's more is that the young ones need a high degree of devotion and love for this art." With Shambhu ready to lead from the front, there seems to be room for hope that pata painting will regain its lost glory.