By IANS
New Delhi : It’s a painting on wood of a traditional Rajasthani haveli, instantly recognisable by those familiar with the miniature school of Indian art. But there’s a difference – a depiction of the world on top of the house.
That is how Dwarka Prasad Jangid visualises a global partnership for development – the world overarching his experiences as shown in the panels he painted to symbolise this Millennium Development Goal (MDG). He unveiled his artwork Wednesday to an admiring crowd at the front lawn of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) office here on the occasion of the United Nations Day.
Apart from the haveli – depicting a happy family, modern healthcare and a partnership of people – at the centre of the panel, Jangid’s panels show how soldiers defend the country, how people cope with droughts and floods, the way towards communal harmony, factories, the effects of cutting trees down and irrigation.
The paintings are stylised, beautiful but not pretty in a hap-hap-happy way. They are real in a way this artist from Bassi – in Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh district – sees the direction being taken by his world. And he tells the viewer the direction it can take through a global partnership better than any speech on MDGs can.
What are these eight MDGs all about? According to Maxine Olson, head of UNDP in India, they are meant to ensure “a quality of life that everyone has a right to expect”. When the UN declared the MDGs in 2000, it set 2015 as the deadline to achieve them.
It is not at all sure if the deadline will be met in this country for any of the eight MDGs, but Olson was happy with the way the government of India was working towards them.
So was Bhagwan Singh Rajput. The expert weaver of durries had spread on a frame a durry with a dark brown background. On it were small squares, moving upwards from brown to light brown to cream. Rajput was depicting the move towards eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, the first MDG.
The second MDG is to achieve universal primary education. Zohra Bi and son Shariq – traditional embroidery workers from Delhi – had worked the letters of the alphabet in various languages on a quilt and a schoolbag that looked far too delicate to actually take to school.
A whole group of craftspeople from Chhattisgarh had visualised the third MDG – to promote gender equality and empower women – in a way that combined the old and the new. They had cast traditional metal figures – one man, one woman. But they had also cast a computer monitor, mouse and keyboard, with the woman’s hands on the keyboard and mouse.
There was more tradition in the way Satya Narin Lal Karn – originally from Mithila in Bihar and now director of the art department in the capital’s Bal Bhavan – had visualised the fourth MDG, which is to reduce child mortality. His work in typical Mithila style showed how animal mothers protect their young.
What about improving maternal health, the fifth MDG? Megiben Meriya from Kutch in Gujarat used patchwork, appliqué, mirror work and thread work to show how quick, scientific and frequent healthcare bring maternal mortality rates down.
A group of women from Jharkhand also used appliqué, this time to depict the steps needed to keep infection at bay and achieve the sixth MDG – combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
J. Niranjan of Andhra Pradesh used natural dyes appropriate to his message on the seventh MDG – ensure environmental sustainability. His tree of life is an amalgamation of motifs from India, China and Iran.
After the UN Day celebrations at the UNDP officer are over, the exhibition that was put together by the Dastkari Haat Samiti, will move to Dilli Haat where it will be on till Monday, and the artistes will bring out other examples of their art for sale.