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OFFTRACK
Heart
and Craft
A man
makes it his mission to check erosion in tribal culture
By
Teresa Rehman
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| ART
OF SURVIVAL: Bahadur potters about the 6,000 artifacts and 4,000 coins
in his museum |
India’s
North-east is like your attic. Not a place you visit very often nor one
that gets too much attention. The region is rarely in the news and is
at best left to fend for itself, often with disastrous results. Progress
here has actually meant the arrival of western detritus. But Mutua Bahadur
thinks he can change all that.
What Bahadur has achieved is phenomenal. In a region where cultural erosion
is rapid, he has singlehandedly managed to spawn institutions to check
that. Manipuri bamboo and cane works, jewellery, pottery, ancient manuscripts,
paintings and textiles adorning miniature tribal dolls—there are
6,000 specimens now in his collection. He claims to possess the largest
private collection of coins in the North-east with around 4,000 gold,
silver and bell-metal coins. He is also the first to collect facsimiles
of ancient Manipuri stone inscriptions despite shoe-string finances.
Artist, author, social worker, numismatist and anthropologist all rolled
into one, Bahadur is a living encyclopaedia on Manipuri culture. It all
started in the 1960s when the cultural identity crisis among tribal groups
of Manipur and Nagaland triggered Bahadur’s efforts to identify and
restore the traditional customs of the 29 Manipuri tribes. Within five
years he produced a five-volume treatise, Tales About the Art and Culture
of Manipur—a much sought-after book. This was the take-off point.
For in these five years, Bahadur also began collecting cultural icons.
Bahadur’s exotic collection was initially housed in his residence
till he established a museum in 1978 on the first floor of a rented building
at Imphal. Urged by Kapila Vatsyayan, the then Union additional education
secretary who had come to see his collection, he christened it Mutua Museum.
Since its inception, around 20 illustrative books, 20 other projects,
several educational charts and slides and video documentation have been
undertaken by the Mutua Museum. It has taken part in the restoration of
defaced monuments and court mural paintings of Manipur. A major exercise
was the setting up of a cultural complex for preservation and promotion
of the material heritage of north-east India in 1993 in the village of
Andro, 26 km from Imphal, where a “sacred fire” from ancient
days burns perpetually. Besides, a “living museum” was established
at Purul village in Senapati district to preserve the traditionally carved
houses of the tribals.
Trips to the back of beyond have fossilised the antiquarian’s personal
life. Bahadur recalls an incident. On his return from a field trip to
Tamenglong district for a few weeks he found himself fending objects thrown
by his irate wife. He found out why: his house was flooded. Flying utensils
aren’t the only threats. Once a tribal chief threatened to kill him
for wanting to know the meaning of a tribal work of art.
The trek to the Imphal museum has been arduous. Born in a poor family,
Bahadur started by making and selling recycled-paper toys. His father,
a Burmese Army soldier who loved travelling, inculcated the spirit of
adventure in his son. Though Bahadur never completed his graduation, he
is now an examiner for awarding PhDs in Manipuri culture at Manipur University.
Recognition has also come in the form of the Special Designer Award in
1972 and the state Kala Academy Award in Folk Arts in 1974.
Bahadur plans to set up a composite complex of the culture of South-East
Asia at Andro. Th. Ravikanta Singh, an anthropologist and lecturer and
a close associate, echoes his sentiments: “There are many facets
of north-east India like pottery and basket making that are similar to
those in south-east Asian culture.” Says Bahadur: “It’s
an ongoing process and I am dedicating the year 2001 to collecting musical
instruments and tribal head-gear ornaments.”
Truth, enthusiasm and discipline are the driving forces that motivate
Bahadur. Inaocha Mangang, his companion since 1978 and a graduate from
Visvabharati, Santiniketan, sums it all up: “Bahadur himself is a
rare specimen who should be preserved in the museum for posterity.”
In a world of neglect and uncertainty it’s nice to believe someone’s
still in charge of the past.
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