Terracotta triumph for city group

KOLKATA: For a motley crew of 25 men, clay is an overriding passion. It not only brought them together but has nourished them for 16 years. People from such diverse backgrounds as engineering, finance, designing, visualising and sculpting came together to form Terra-Cottal.
The renowned sculptor, late Prabhas Sen, set the ball rolling in 1987. “He was worried about the art of terracotta dying out and spoke to a few of us about reviving it.That was the beginning of Terra-Cottal,� said senior member Soumitra Dutta Gupta. The group is holding its first exhibition in 10 years at its gallery in Lake Gardens. “We have been working for over four years on Sukumar Ray’s Abol Tabol and felt the classic’s 80th anniversary was the best time to have an exhibition.�
Though the team is looking for someone to pick up all the pieces, one may pick up three for Rs 20,000. Murals begin at Rs 4,500 and can go up to Rs 50,000 depending on the intricacy of the work and size.
All 25 members work together and are reluctant to highlight any individual’s contribution. “We are a team of 25 and each of these creations have some participation from each of us,� said founder-member Suchibrata Deb. About 10 of them work with Terra-Cottal full-time.
Among Terra-Cottal’s major works is the outdoor sculpture at the entrance to the Kolkata airport which was completed in 1995. “This creation is a fusion of traditional art and modern technology since it withstands high winds and vibrations all the time,� Dutta Gupta explains.
Terra-Cottal’s most recent creation was commissioned by the Nirmala Birla Art Gallery at Hyderabad. This 800 sq. ft. indoor mural, depicting Krishna’s biswaroop darshan from the Mahabharata, has Ganga as its connecting thread. It took 48 hours of non-stop backbreaking labour to ensure continuity. “Clay shrinks as it dries so we had to complete the entire Ganga at one go,� Dutta Gupta says.
“We prefer to sell our work to places which will display it because our aim is to popularise terracotta which is a folk art going back to thousands of years,� Dutta Gupta said. Even then, some of their more inspired creations like an entire set of miniature chess pieces are not for sale. “We have received offers over Rs 4 lakh but declined,� Dutta Gupta said. The team had, a few years ago, taken to painting on saris and scarves, but stopped when they realised it took them away from their basic mission.