CAG 2021-22
MIMANG MOLAI
Dipankar Panging
Sivasagar district, Assam
For his Community Arts project 'Mimang Molai', artist Dipankar Panging worked to revive and document traditional weaving techniques, motifs and stories as practiced by women of the Mising community in Sivasagar district, Assam.
Native to the community, Dipankar understands well how the particular motifs as woven into the fabric tapestries created by women in his communities, are slowly being lost. In his attempt to record and create new works along with the women in his community, he is additionally working with children to collect plastic wrappers thrown around, and learn how to weave these into the fabric.
By doing so, Dipankar wishes to experiment with this traditional process, and involve the younger generation in understanding waste and being ecologically aware of their beautiful village surroundings.
Women in Shivsagar District villages told Dipankar of the many methods of weaving with fabric, jute and cane and the motifs they traditionally incorporate.
At the end of the project period Dipankar organised an Open Day event within the village, for the community to share the various tapestries created and the motifs and stories behind each. These works have subsequently been exhibited in Delhi.
Along with children and women, Dipankar initiated experiments with patterns and materials - even introducing waste plastic into the fabric to weave with.
About the grantee
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Dipankar Panging is a contemporary artist from Assam. He has a Master’s of Fine Arts from Kala Bhavana, Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan. Concerns for the environment, and community have led him to delve into the technique of recycling, exploring it as a concept as well as a means of creating a sustainable art practice. He now lives and works in his hometown in Sivasagar, Assam, engaging with different traditional art practices of his Mishing tribal culture. His work has been displayed at various exhibitions, including ‘Work in Progress’, Khoj International Artists’ Association, New Delhi (2021); and ‘Apotheosis’, Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata (2019), among others.