SAC presents: Susan Wadley

From Ritual Art to Tourist Art: Transformations in Three South Asia ‘Folk’ Art Traditions Folk art traditions in India have undergone many changes in the past 50 years--including shifts in artist, audience, and topics. Looking at three traditions from eastern India (Mithila paintings from Bihar; pata scroll-songs from Bengal; and women's kantha or quilts from Bengal and Bihar), this talk focuses on the key shifts in maker, audience and topic that each has undergone since the 1960s, especially as these 'folk' art forms shift from their original ritual underpinnings to middle class 'tourist' art, or even 'art'.