Painted Nation

In my mind, one of the important reasons for India's vibrant culture is the amazing display of colour. I happened to watch a program on Discovery titled 'Painted Nation'. Occasion was Holi - the festival of colours - however it touched several aspects of culture within the nation. It was beautiful to see locals paint and worship everything from their trucks to fishing boats and nets. What lingered on in my mind though was the plight of a dying art. The art of hand painted posters and hoardings has been reduced drastically with the advent of computers and graphic printing. Coming from the city of Bollywood, Mumbai I have seen this first hand. Owing to technical and economic factors, hand painted posters are no longer in demand, artists are affected in a big way, many losing their livelihood and a society losing its cultural expression. Some artists have however found admirers in Europe and actually teach the art to those interested to revive the once vibrant and in demand art form.

Stumbled upon an old news article on BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3071229.stm