The Dokhra Metal Casters of West Bengal Pt 1

The Dokhra or Dokra group of tribal craftsmen who live in an around West Bengal, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh create wonderfully sculpted products of cast metals. What makes Dokhra metal casting unique is that it uses the lost wax process or Cire Perdue to cast brass or bronze. The word Dokhra in Bengali denotes contempt for those who are socially low and despised. Within all the social hierarchy in West Bengal, these metalworkers are the most persecuted. The Dokhras currently live in the western part of West Bengal in four districts namely, Midnapore, Purulia, Bankura and Burdwan. The metalworkers in this film are from Burdwan. These Dokhra casters make various kinds of images and figures of deities like Siva and Ganesh, and animals such as owls, horses and strangely enough (considering that they live inland) fish.

The film provides a brief context in which the Dokhra craftsmen live and then moves on to describe the casting process. A documentary by Gillian Bormann and Alex Senior.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Bormann
• Senior
• Dokhra
• Dokra
• Bengal
• Orissa
• Pradesh
• Casting
• Sculpture
• Burdwan

[mollieie]

great film! An Eastern Masterpiece in Austin, TX carries and incredible Dokhra collection for sale--it was great to watch your film to see the entire process so I better understand the art pieces themselves. I'm going back to look at them again. Thank you for sharing!