For Altaf, working in a ‘commune workshop’, as she puts it, may help her to move away from the individualistic predisposition of an urban artist towards group creativity. Turning to traditional sources is not a revivalist journey for her but rather a chance to enliven the imagination and aid self-reflection. She feels that working with Shantibai – whose traditional role is to paint wooden structures carved by her spouse, apart from managing her heavy domestic responsibilities – will also give her the opportunity to look at her own feminist commitments, and to situate the question of gender within a wider personal, social and aesthetic debate.

For the artists from Bastar, the residency provides them with an opportunity to work collectively. Free from the pressure to manufacture stereotyped products for the market, they would be able to reflect on the process through which they construct and arrive at their working images. They expect to discuss concepts of form, probe artistic ideas and techniques, under­stand the role of myth in their work, examine individual preconceptions and appreciate one another’s social and aesthetic concerns.

The artists intend to develop about ten wood sculptures, which will be complemented by drawings, sketches and watercolours. These will be installed and viewed in Shilpi Kendra, Kondagaon, and then move to public sites, such as galleries, colleges and women’s centres, in Mumbai and other cities. The proceeds from the sale of the art objects will be equally shared, and is expected to enable them to continue working in the same direction.

Art historian Bhanumati Narayan, would not only document project activities, but also serve as a facilitator, drawing the collaborators into dialogue and helping to articulate their thought processes at different points in the collaboration. Although she does not discount difficulties in representing the voice of the craftspeople in the collaboration, she feels confident about negotiating and clearing a space for all the participants, while deepening her own understanding “of the dynamics at work when a traditional cultural practice moves towards a contemporary space.”