Rooftop – Where India Inspires Creativity

Molela Terracotta Workshop With Dinesh Chandra Kumhar

molela terracotta workshop

Molela is a small village in Rajasthan, also known as ‘potters village, popular for its unique art form called Molela Terracotta. Terracotta means ‘baked earth’ in English. It is a ceramic material used in construction as well as decorative arts since ancient times. 

To give our Rooftop Members the experience to learn and enlighten themselves about this traditional art form, we curated Molela Terracotta Workshop with our Senior Terracotta Artist Dinesh Chandra Kumar 

Senior Terracotta Artist, Dinesh Chandra Kumhar is a young and dynamic artist of Molela Terracotta. He started working with his father, ‘Padma Shree’ Shilp Guru Mohanlal Kumhar at the age of eight. Currently, he works at his workshop in his hometown Molela, Rajasthan. Dinesh also produces large highly detailed panels showing traditional Rajasthan village scenes such as weddings, field works, daily chores, etc. He also served thousands of children with Molela Terracotta Art.

He is also serving his art to the young generation through seminars, workshops, and summer training and served around 20,000+ students. Some of his awards and recognition include International Crafts Awards 2019, National Merit Award 2019, International Folk Art Alliance 2017 and many more.

Molela Terracotta Workshop Began

We started with the artist preparing a base for the item. The slab is beaten to make a base and the Pindi is cleaned to start with the art. The artist was all set to prepare a figure of a cow on the mud base. The artist was instructed to make the body with the clay and then the legs of the cow by pressing them with both hands. He then added ears and cow horns to the art piece. The art piece looked incredible now we added a tail to the cow and gave it a finish like a pro.

Towards The End Of The Workshop

Moving further, the attendees asked questions. To which Artist and the artist gave some tips and tricks for creating the molela terracotta. He displayed his experiments with terracotta and innovative ideas and stories shared with the attendees.

The attendees seemed immersed in the workshop. They thanked us as well as the artist for introducing them to such a unique art form.

The attendees were from different parts of the country. Also, they belonged to different age groups but their love for art brought them together on a single platform. Rooftop as always was successful in connecting artists and curating a magical and positive vibe together. 

On this note, here’s us signing off until next time!

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