ICHCAP

Banglanatak dot com has been successfully mobilizing communities to celebrate their intangible cultural heritage through festivals in their villages. The festivals create new contexts for performance and showcasing. Awareness is created among neighboring communities. Students and tourists also visit and learn about heritage in workshops. Greater recognition and respect contribute to the safeguarding process as young people start taking interest in pursuing their heritage.

Mukha Mela (4th Edition) will be held at Kushmandi Village from 26 to 28 October 2018. Mukha means “mask” while mela means “fair.” Kushmandi, just north of West Bengal in eastern India, is a hub of wooden mask makers. The masks are used in a ritualistic folk dance called Gomira.

The Hill Festival in Kalimpong in the Eastern Himalayas between 26 to 28 October will celebrate the vibrant traditions of sixteen indigenous communities of the hills who share roots with the neighboring communities in Nepal, Bhutan, and China.

The Bankura district is a hub of terracotta (fired clay) and dokra a metal craft using the ancient non-ferrous casting technique cire perdue or lost wax method. Terracotta Mela (4th Edition) and Dokra Mela (3rd Edition) are being held in artist villages between 2 and 4 November.