Abstract
Kumartuli, Kolkata’s potter (Kumbhakār) quarter in West Bengal (India), is often treated as a repository of “tradition.” My material shows something else: a modern, competitive art economy in which caste is turned into reputational capital and a sales argument. Based on long-term fieldwork among workshop owners (māliks) and their committees (samitis), I track how “Kumar by caste” is actively branded—as lineage, as artistry (mritshilpi/bhāskar), and as leverage in municipal and electoral arenas. The hinge is aesthetic and organizational innovation: from Gopeshwar Pal’s art religious statues in the 1930s, which legitimated experimentation and theme cermonies, through portfolio work, export orders, and festival jurying. These shifts opened room for a new self-understanding: artisan to artist-entrepreneur. Modernity in Kumartuli does not erase caste; it rewrites what caste does. Rather than regulating commensality and marriage, caste now organizes commissions, networks, and access to patrons, juries, and state actors. I read this as the commodification of caste—affiliation refashioned as an asset in a field shaped by urban land politics (thika struggles, mall proposals), samiti governance, and a liberalized festival economy. The paper shows how art operates in social and political life, and why art histories must account for neighbourhood-level market making rather than “heritage” alone. A brief coda notes current visibility practices (showcases, websites, diaspora buyers) to underline continuity—not rupture—between material workshops and mediated publics.
Presenters
Geir HeierstadDirector, Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR), Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
The Arts in Social, Political, and Community Life
KEYWORDS
Caste, Kumartuli, Kolkata, Artist-Entrepreneurship, Heritage Branding, Festival Economy
