Hailing from a family of traditional patachitra artists, and second son of the well known Bahar (Ranjit) Chitrakar, thirty-six year old Seramuddin Chitrakar is an extremely talented scroll painter or patua.
He belongs to the Naya school of patuas (West Medinipur) and started learning his art from the time he was five or six. He began by adding small blobs of colour here and there on a patachitra being made, under his father`s watchful eye, and over time, graduated to finishing pictures for his father. It was only after his father was satisfied with his progress, that he was eventually gradually allowed to accompany him to the annual folk fairs in Kolkata, ,as a young teenager. Meanwhile, he also received instruction from his renowned maternal grandfather, the late Pulin Chitrakar, who taught him how to accentuate the finer details.
Before long, the extremely creative Seramuddin started working on his own patachitras - in the "Bangla" pata style with a hint of Kalighat. For several years now, he has also been incorporating experimental ideas in his work, though staying within the traditional framework. For instance, he fuses several themes into a single painting sometimes - resulting in a scroll with a combination of Durga and Manosha related imagery. Instead of the traditional floral borders on a scroll, Seramuddin sometimes uses animal motifs. His highly detailed, intricately painted duo toned (beige and black) patachitras, sometimes with accents of red, have won him great appreciation. It is these extremely eye catching patas that he enjoys creating the most.
Seramuddin`s mantra is quality rather than quantity - and this is clearly visible in his large format patachitras. His aim is to emulate his equally talented elder brother Shahajan Chitrakar, who paints long scrolls. A few of his long Ramayan scrolls have been picked up by museums. He usually does smaller chouko pots on request and of course, like his brethren, also paints on T shirts, hand fans and other such small items. He has participated in important fairs across India and won a district award in 2012. His first major award was from Rabindra Bharati University in 2015.
Family circumstances did not allow Seramuddin to study beyond class V, but he and his elder brother have ensured that their younger brothers were able to get an education. Seramuddin`s sons too attend school. The elder, Ashiq, now 15, has already begun to display talent, both in his painting and singing. Seramuddin himself has learnt many songs from his father, but it his painting skills that sets this soft spoken patua apart.
When patachitra sales came to a standstill during the two years of Covid lockdown, Seramuddin stoically looked upon the lull as an opportunity to stock up on his paintings and painted continuously. And since traditionally, patuas unfailingly document events that have touched their lives through their art, Seramuddin created his version of the "Corona pot" - on an eight foot scroll.
Seramuddin, along with numerous other folk artists from across the country was recently invited to New Delhi to participate in the 100th edition of the prime minister’s Mann ki Baat program. This is the first time he received national recognition, although his work is absolutely top class. And that seems to be the problem in the village of Pingla. Other than the chosen few who are particularly promoted and feted by various authorities and social enterprises, who participate in major events and are even sent abroad, numerous artists of equal calibre, have to fend for themselves. Hopefully this will change.