Crying Out Their Woes, Nirmal Artisans Still Fighting During Pandemic

With the pandemic hitting the world, homes were shattered. Since 2020, lives and the world itself has transformed. People have fought to earn, live, breathe, and the struggle has continued since then.

Artisans of the Nirmal district are still pushing themselves every day to keep their art alive. "Pandemic made things bad for us. Artisans did not have work to do", recalls B.R.Shankar, manager of the Nirmal Cooperative Society.

With the end of the lockdown, their art is slowing breathing once again. Despite this, there still stands a plethora of problems that threaten the very existence of the art and the livelihood of the Nirmal artisans.

Nirmal Art Passing Down The Ages

Nirmal town is located amidst the dense forest of Nirmal district in Telangana. This land is often called the gifted land of art and crafts as the' Naqash' (craftsmen living in Nirmal) create paintings and toys.

Nirmal Art is 400 years old rich tradition that encompasses softwood toys and paintings. The Nirmal Toys Industrial Cooperative Society, established in 1995, is home to many artisans and the central toy-making unit.

According to local traditions, the Naqash families are believed to have migrated from Karnataka in the 17th century, and however, many believe that they came from Rajasthan. The artisans produce these toys from a specially carved wood called 'Poniki' ( white sander wood), and the toys are painted in enamel colours or herbal extract. The paintings use organic colours from the extracts of herbs, vegetables, dye, gum, and minerals.

With globalisation and liberalisation, the demands have changed. The artisans are now required to make toys and paintings per the market's demands. Sometimes they are forced to use chemical oil colours to give their toys a glossy look.

In 2016, Naqash artisan Boosani Narsingam passed away, marking the end of the original form and style of the genre, The Hindu reported.

Crying Out Their Woes But Still Fighting

The lockdown impacted the artisans' livelihood, leaving them uncertain about the future. Difficulty in procuring wood and the lack of interest in the new generation to learn the traditional art create challenges for the art's survival.

S.Pintaiah, a Nirmal Artisan, told The Logical Indian, "There was a lot of difficulties in the lockdown period as the industry was closed and artisans were out of work, but now, things are reviving."

He also said that wood procurement is a huge issue as the government does not allow the cutting of trees. The artisans also believe that the coming generation is not interested in learning and making this their livelihood because of less money and the wood procurement problem.

The manager also added that the pandemic was dreadful for the artisans as the industry was closed, and the government gave no proper support to them. However, the industry has been catching pace again.

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