Fieldwork
Begin with the people who make it.
We visit makers to understand how skills are learnt, practised and passed on. Our first film follows D. Vaikuntam Nakash and his family in Telangana.
We begin by listening. Nothing from this work is published without the written consent of the people in it.
First film · Cheriyal scroll painting · Telangana
Nakash: The Painted Scrolls of Cheriyal
In Telangana, stories were once carried from village to village on painted cloth. Our first visit was to the Boduppal workshop of D. Vaikuntam Nakash, who learnt Cheriyal scroll painting from his father. More than fifty years later he is still painting, and teaching.
“Many more people must come to know it, buy it, and keep it in their homes.”
This is a first conversation, not yet a programme: what comes next will be shaped with the family and other practitioners, and we will add field notes and photographs here as they agree to publication.
Help this story reach more people. Like or share the film on YouTube, and subscribe for new films from Bharatiyata.
What we hope to learn
Practitioners shape the priorities: what they want to sustain, where support would help, and what would count as a useful outcome for their work and community. We hope to support livelihoods and help skills pass to future generations, with any practical support agreed together.
- The making: materials, tools, techniques and the decisions that shape a piece.
- The learning: how knowledge passes between generations, families and students, and what helps that learning continue.
- The livelihood: what practitioners want for their work, where support could help and how they would recognise a meaningful benefit.
We will ask permission before recording or publishing. A field note will distinguish what we observed from what someone told us, credit participants as agreed, and leave room for corrections.
Help us begin a conversation
If you practise a craft, work with a local collective, or know an artisan whose craft deserves to be recorded, we would like to hear from you. Tell us what you would want a visitor to understand.
Introduce yourself →