& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

LIVELIHOOD

The cost of art on the move

Kawsar Khan
On one of the years hottest days Hussain moves his small paintbrush over a rickshaw frame at fantastic speed, crafting birds and flowers as if on autopilot.
"Now the work is very easy to me. But it was not easy at all when I started in this job as a 16-year boy," said Hussain who isnow33.
Hussain works at a rickshaw garage in Jatrabari in the capital where new rickshaws are assembled. By painting the black frame, he is taking the first step in the complicated process of decorating each rickshaw, a process that can account for between 20 to 30 percent of the cost of each vehicle.
After Hussain has finished, an aluminum encased seat, itself covered in paintings, studs and photos, is added. Then there is the plastic hood with its motifs as well as selected ornaments and plastic flowers. Finally there is the backplate with paintings ranging from rural scenes, to trains, planes and movie star heroes.
Hussian is happy to talk about his trade as he works, but he is gloomy about his prospects. If there is work he can earn perhaps Tk200 a day, but during the past years work has been irregular while his cost of livinghas soared.
“If I paint three rickshaws I get around Tk 200 a day, but the number of new rickshaws being produced is falling,” he laments.
"During my learning years I worked as an assistant to my ustad (master) learning the art," said Hussain, who now has two helpers cum learners himself. The trainees do the less important parts of the rickshaw with the final touches given by the master.
"If the artist did all the work himself it would take a huge time to complete the job, so every artist has a few apprentices who help their masters", said Hussain.
Hussain was not paid by his master when he was a novice, and he doesn't pay money to his novices. Since there is no formal education for rickshaw artists the craft is passed from generation to generation, from master to novice.
In her book, 'Rickshaw Art in Bangladesh', France Lasnier says the fancy decoration of rickshaws is a relatively recent phenomenon.
“Laws regulating the external appearance of rickshaws were drafted by the British colonial administrators in the early 20th century; 'The body,
wheels and shaft of all rickshaws shall be painted dark blue with thin red lining, and all iron work shall be painted black,'" Lasnier writes, citing the British rules.
After independence decoration really got going and by the 1950s movie stars became a popular feature, as did idealized rural scenes, buildings, vehicles and exotic birds and animals.
PC Das, a rickshaw painter who also works in the Jatribara garage, mainly paints backplates, the pictures that hang under the seat above the back axel.
"Depending on merit and dedication it takes between two and three years to learn a single kind of motif. As it is a long time process to learn, artists often don't show interest in diversifying their skills,” he said.
According to rickshaw assemblers a complete rickshaw costs around Tkl4,000. While the painters may only get a few hundred taka per vehicle, the cost of paints and other materials such as the hood and seat can push the total cost of decoration to several thousand taka.
While the beauty of a freshly decorated rickshaw can turn heads, it may seem odd that owners are prepared to pay so much for what can be called 'extras'.
Shamsul Alam, a rickshaw garage owner, explained the economic logic. “Everyone likes beautiful things. If a rickshaw is decorated, it attracts more passengers and we also charge extra money for its daily rent”.
“But now you will find huge numbers of rickshaws on the road that are undecorated as
owners cannot afford the additional spending," Alam went on.
PC Das begun his profession as a rickshaw artist in 1969 when he was 18-year old, but he too is downbeat about the present state of the trade.
“A few years ago I used to get Tk 70-80 for painting a rickshaw plate, and that time I could buy five kgs of rice with the money. The price I get for a painting now is the same but 1 can hardly buy two kgs or rice with the money."
Asked if he had ever received any recognition for his an, Das said, “ Once a few persons bought some of my works at the market rate and I later came to know that they sold the pieces as art for very high prices, but I got no benefit from this."
kawsar@thedailystar.net