Shilpgram Udaipur
Shilpgram is a Hindi word, which itself means village of arts and crafts. Shilpgram Udaipur is one of those seven centers of West Zone Cultural Center(WZCC) established by the Government in 1986. Shilpgram Udaipur is spread over the wavy terrain of 70 acres (130 bighas) of land surrounded by the Aravali. It is considered to be the living museum to depict the lifestyle of the folk and people of the west zone. Within this village (complex), huts of member states are constructed featuring the different ethnic groups residing within West Zone of India.
The craft knowledge and people knowing the craft is becoming less day by day. So, one of the objective of Shilpgram is to increase the awareness and knowledge of rural life and crafts in the young generation. For the same purpose, Shilpgram arranges various workshops on arts, crafts, theater and music.
Artists and craftsmen from various regions of India come together and showcase their talents in Shilpgram. So, Shilpgram also provides an opportunity to artists to come together and interact through the process of camps and workshops. They can enhance their skills and enrich art forms by thoroughly observing skills and arts of different artists. The Center promotes contemporary urban ceramists, potters, designers, visual artists etc. to work with their traditional counterparts in creating works of everyday art which would then be put up for exhibition and sale for visitors.
The articles and objects created so, are put on the display in the two developed museum. In addition to this, a Crafts Bazar in the fashion of traditional 'haat' is made where visitors could buy traditional crafts from the zone and the craftsmen are invited on the regular basis to demonstrate their skills and sell the crafts. This activity of craftsmen for direct access to buyers is called "Shilpdarshan". Shilpdarshan has attracted more and more craftsmen from the interior parts of the villages of member states.
In Shilpgram Udaipur, huts representing Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa are present. For making the atmosphere more likely to the village, the huts are constructed around an interlocking occupational theme. Traditional village life was said to have been, to a considerable extent, self-contained and self-sufficient with a potter, a carpenter, a blacksmith, often a weaver, living alongside one another. The Center's Rural Arts and Crafts Complex adopts this cellular approach such that each individual hut is at once an organic entity and at the same time nourishing and husbanding a series of such transactions.
In this integrated pattern are 5 huts from Rajasthan, representing weaver's community from Marwar, potter's hut from the village Dhol, the tribal farmer communities of the Bhil and the Sehariyas of the Southern regions of Rajasthan.
There are 7 representative huts from the state of Gujarat. A cluster of six huts from Banni area consisting of two huts each of the Rebari, Harijan and Muslim communities famous for their weaving, embroidery, bead & mirror work, wood work and rogar work. Other one is from Bhujodi have been selected from the arid wastelands of Kutch.
The Koli hut from a seashore hamlet , one from Kolhapur - representing leather chappal craftsmen from southern Maharashtra, one from Thane district is aWarli hut replete with its wall paintings, the tribal farmer community of the Kunbis and two huts of the Gond and Maria tribal communities famous for their 'dokra' work, represents tribal and crafts of Maharashtra.
Five mind-bobbling huts represents member state Goa. They are: A potter's hut from Bicholim made of local laterite stone, typical hut of the Kulumbi tribal agriculturalists renowned for their grass and cane weaving work from Canacona and a hut from the Mandovi riverside representing the traditional fisherman's way of life.
In order to ensure that a visit to Shilpgram Udaipur - becomes an educative and enriching experience, the hut from Sam (Marwar) is planned as the Activity and Documentation Section where workshops, seminars etc.can be organized. Similarly the cluster of Banni and Bhujodi huts from Gujarat would comprise of Guest Room facilities for the visiting master craftsmen, researchers and scholars. A Goan mainstream hut and Mewar potters hut can accommodate children and students.
Apart from these huts, Shilpgram consists of an open air Amphitheater with a seating capacity of approximately 8000. Every year in the end of the year, a 10-day festival is organized which shows glimpses of the complete rural India within the 70 acre itself. Artists and craftsmen from all over India get together to showcase their excellent talent and their great skills. Moreover, in these 10-days every evening you can also witness the rich culture of India, via the juvenile traditional and cultural folk programmes, each day with a different theme and different heart throbbing programmes.
The craft knowledge and people knowing the craft is becoming less day by day. So, one of the objective of Shilpgram is to increase the awareness and knowledge of rural life and crafts in the young generation. For the same purpose, Shilpgram arranges various workshops on arts, crafts, theater and music.
Artists and craftsmen from various regions of India come together and showcase their talents in Shilpgram. So, Shilpgram also provides an opportunity to artists to come together and interact through the process of camps and workshops. They can enhance their skills and enrich art forms by thoroughly observing skills and arts of different artists. The Center promotes contemporary urban ceramists, potters, designers, visual artists etc. to work with their traditional counterparts in creating works of everyday art which would then be put up for exhibition and sale for visitors.
The articles and objects created so, are put on the display in the two developed museum. In addition to this, a Crafts Bazar in the fashion of traditional 'haat' is made where visitors could buy traditional crafts from the zone and the craftsmen are invited on the regular basis to demonstrate their skills and sell the crafts. This activity of craftsmen for direct access to buyers is called "Shilpdarshan". Shilpdarshan has attracted more and more craftsmen from the interior parts of the villages of member states.
In Shilpgram Udaipur, huts representing Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa are present. For making the atmosphere more likely to the village, the huts are constructed around an interlocking occupational theme. Traditional village life was said to have been, to a considerable extent, self-contained and self-sufficient with a potter, a carpenter, a blacksmith, often a weaver, living alongside one another. The Center's Rural Arts and Crafts Complex adopts this cellular approach such that each individual hut is at once an organic entity and at the same time nourishing and husbanding a series of such transactions.
In this integrated pattern are 5 huts from Rajasthan, representing weaver's community from Marwar, potter's hut from the village Dhol, the tribal farmer communities of the Bhil and the Sehariyas of the Southern regions of Rajasthan.
There are 7 representative huts from the state of Gujarat. A cluster of six huts from Banni area consisting of two huts each of the Rebari, Harijan and Muslim communities famous for their weaving, embroidery, bead & mirror work, wood work and rogar work. Other one is from Bhujodi have been selected from the arid wastelands of Kutch.
The Koli hut from a seashore hamlet , one from Kolhapur - representing leather chappal craftsmen from southern Maharashtra, one from Thane district is aWarli hut replete with its wall paintings, the tribal farmer community of the Kunbis and two huts of the Gond and Maria tribal communities famous for their 'dokra' work, represents tribal and crafts of Maharashtra.
Five mind-bobbling huts represents member state Goa. They are: A potter's hut from Bicholim made of local laterite stone, typical hut of the Kulumbi tribal agriculturalists renowned for their grass and cane weaving work from Canacona and a hut from the Mandovi riverside representing the traditional fisherman's way of life.
In order to ensure that a visit to Shilpgram Udaipur - becomes an educative and enriching experience, the hut from Sam (Marwar) is planned as the Activity and Documentation Section where workshops, seminars etc.can be organized. Similarly the cluster of Banni and Bhujodi huts from Gujarat would comprise of Guest Room facilities for the visiting master craftsmen, researchers and scholars. A Goan mainstream hut and Mewar potters hut can accommodate children and students.
Apart from these huts, Shilpgram consists of an open air Amphitheater with a seating capacity of approximately 8000. Every year in the end of the year, a 10-day festival is organized which shows glimpses of the complete rural India within the 70 acre itself. Artists and craftsmen from all over India get together to showcase their excellent talent and their great skills. Moreover, in these 10-days every evening you can also witness the rich culture of India, via the juvenile traditional and cultural folk programmes, each day with a different theme and different heart throbbing programmes.