Tracing the journey of golu from old prints

CHENNAI: Most of the households in Chennai have started the ritualistic cleaning of the bommai golus ahead of the Navaratri festival. But not many know the history of those bommais — how some of the dolls first began as figures in the minds of artists, how old prints inspired the craftsmen. To give Chennaiites an idea about how traditional craftsmen made dolls inspired by old prints, DakshinaChitra is hosting an exhibition titled Uruvakkam: From Prints to Golu at Kadambari Gallery. Dingdi Gangte and Indumathi Mohan from the museum are curating this ongoing exhibition.

“This exhibition traces the overlaps between golu dolls and the prints that inspired the doll makers. To give the audience a better understanding, we have displayed them alongside each other. We have also divided the doll section into five parts — Raja Ravi Varma paintings, patriotic prints, religious prints, mother and child, and popular art. From this exhibit, one can understand how popular imagination was shaped and manifested through two different but interrelated media,” says Indumathi Mohan.

For eg., the popular art section features dolls representing contemporary life — people in various professions, individuals going about their daily activities and so on. “Many of the dolls in this section are inspired by old films and film stars. The first superstar of Tamil cinema MK Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and Baby Saroja was the muse of doll makers. You can see their dolls here. The 1948 film Chandralekha which had many iconic dance sequences inspired the creation of many dancing dolls.”

The curators hope that the exhibition will help people understand how tradition and culture have evolved. “Those days, art and printmaking had a huge impact on people’s lives. The addition of new dolls to the houses not just provided a means of livelihood to craftsmen but also reflected the development of society. For this, the craftsmen used Ravi Varma’s prints that are a staple in every home, calendar prints, images from films, etc as references.”