One of the many efforts of ours has been to create awareness among the people and stakeholders regarding the art forms- Patachitra, Chau and Baul and the attribution of the artists. The village festivals attract a huge crowd and we thought it to be the best way to sensitize a large number of people within a short span. Bilingual signage were developed and put up during the POT Maya (Patachitra Festival held ay Pingla), Chau Jhumur Utsav (held at Balarampur) and Baul Fakiri Utsav (held at Tepantar).
The signage requested the audience to mention the name of the artist, village when they post photos of them on social media. Hashtags for social media posts were also mentioned in these notices as hashatgs are important components of digital marketing that helps one to reach out to its target audience.
The response of this initiative was good, people mentioned name of artist, village and provided proper hashtags in their posts as seen after the village festivals. Now we are trying to put up permanent signages in the craft villages like Pingla and Charida (Chau Mask village) as they get visitors throughout the year.
Festival notice just outside a stall
Festival notice in Baul Fakir Utsav
Festival notice at the Chau dance arena
This research project, Heritage Sensitive Intellectual Property and Marketing strategies: India (HIPAMS - INDIA), is funded by the British Academy's Sustainable Development Programme, supported under the UK Government's Global Challenges Research Fund 2018-2021.