Arts Reverie, Haveli's and Pol's

Arts Reverie will be our base for the majority of our month long stay in Ahmedabad. Lokesh Ghai - a textile artist, has very kindly offered for me to stay with him for the first few days whilst a HAT LAB project takes place in the house. Thurle is due to arrive in a few days, having stayed on in Bangladesh. 

Lokesh will be travelling to the UK in May for 3 months, along with both Tarun and Tapan, as part of the Making Space:Sensing Place project.

'Arts Reverie', is a 'Haveli' located in 'Dhal ni Pol', close to Astodia Chakla; one of the gateways which used to form part of the wall around the old city.

Ahmedabad has two distinct areas; the new city to the west of the Sabarmati river and the old city, positioned roughly between Gandhi Bridge to the North and Sardar bridge to the south and extending east to the ring road from the rivers edge. This old part of the city is made up of 'Pols' (from the Sanskrit word 'Pratoli' meaning entrance to an enclosed area); self contained, gated and enclosed neighbourhoods.

Map of the old city

POLS

The original houses which formed the Pols were called Havelis they are tall, narrow and deep buildings; arranged around narrow lanes which help to keep the Pol areas cool in the hot summer months. Together the Pols form a labyrinth across the city, linked by hidden passages and tiny pathways. Each Pol has a name and is generally identified by the community or trade of the residents, 'Dhal ni Pol' is a Jain Pol (directly in front of Arts Reverie is a Jain temple), other Pols have different religions and beliefs. As well as a Temple or Mosque, the pols will often have other shrines.

Each Pol once had, and many still retain; a gated entrance, this would have been guarded at night from a small room above the gate. Other features which are visible in the Pols include: 'Parab' - water pots at the entrance for thirsty passers-by, a communal well, often a diary, shop, laundry, rice mill, a tailor, a large blackboard for communication of information for the community, (dates of weddings or festivals etc). Each pol has an 'council' and this is where they would communicate information to the other inhabitants.

The intensity of the built environment in the old city, the lack of green spaces or trees in the Pols has lead to the creation of nesting holes for birds built into the walls of the houses and the positioning of a 'Chabutro' or bird feeder in each Pol. In many Pols the Chabutro offers a central focus point acting as a place for the residents to meet as well as providing a platform, away from the dogs and cats, for the birds, squirrels and Mynahs to feed on food provided by the pol community. The Chabutro are sometimes used as a focus around which hawkers display and sell their wares or act as a stage or backdrop for speakers. Made from wood the Chabutro are often ornate and intricately carved.

HAVELI'S

The Arts reverie house is of a traditional style called an 'Haveli', a tall deep thin building built around an open central space or atrium. The open area in the house acts both as a reception area as well as a 'chimney', drawing the cool air from the shaded alleys up through the house and releasing the heat. The buildings are sensitivetly and thoughtfully designed, shuttered windows on each floor open out into the central atrium through the building accessing the cool air which moves up through the building at night.

Their construction is of brick and timber, built in sections with wooden beams creating a frame and ' breaks' in the courses of bricks (should an earthquake occur, which happens with regular frequency in Gujarat, then the shock through the walls will be halted by the flexible course of the timber, the walls are less likely to break and fall). Often the buildings make use of shared walls reducing the surface area exposed to the sun and helping to keep the spaces cool and the structure stronger. Each Haveli has a roof terrace for sleeping out during the summer nights (and for kite flying!), the large open space provides a catchment area for 'rain fall harvesting' during the wet season, connected by guttering to a large ' Tanka' or underground storage vault built of purifying limestone the initial rains are diverted to drains. when the system is washed of the years dust the fresh water is diverted o the 'Tanka' .

The many floors of an Haveli are linked by ladders and many have intricately carved details and facades. The entrance to the houses from the pol are often raised to allow for the rain in the wet season and a flat platform normally exists beside the entrance for people to sleep, sit, read or chat with neighbours. The Pols are very social spaces their orientation to the sun and their self cooling, water catchment designs make them important reference points for contemporary sustainable design.

The beauty of the buildings both in their appearance and design has lead to a growing campaign to try to get the old city listed as a world heritage site. Amhedabad for World Heritage Status is one of a number of organisations and individuals passionate about telling the world how important this urban heritage is and is leading a series of cultural activities to educate both local. national and international audiences of the value of the old city. The Pols have a great atmosphere,children run and play and families meet chat and talk. In recent years the city has seen a exodus of wealth to the new western part of the city, families wishing to live in modern spacious houses with ease of vehicular access ( many or the lanes leading into the pols are too small for vehicles other than the motorised rickshaws or scooters). The old city with its rich heritage and narrow lanes, architectural details and social systems has suffered, families unable to afford to repair and maintain the properties they have inherited means many houses are falling into disrepair leaving developers to move in and 'upgrade' the old houses by knocking them down and replacing them with new concrete constructions.

Arts Reverie

Tfrench the House is marketed as an arts house and many of the previous HAT project artists from around the world have stayed here. The house is jointly managed by Anupa Mehta of Art Works, India and Jeremy Theophilus and Barney Hare Duke of A Fine Line: Cultural Practice.

The house is full of beautiful details; there is a small shrine with a painting by Sanjay Chitara a skilled draftsman and textile artist who produces 'Mata-ni-Pachedi'. He has created images at the entrance to the house too.

The ground floor of the house is a tiled floor covered with cow dung which gives a warm soft touch underfoot like walking on a coir door mat. The dung has anti bacterial properties and helps keep the dirt from the streets out of the living space.

Following the Ganges

Nose dived by mosquitos as I now sit in the departure lounge of the airport, I feel as though I am still waking. It was a late night and an early rise to get here. Leaving the flat I stepped across sleeping bodies around the apartment, the debris left from the party last night.

A mad cng rickshaw journey gave little time for reflection about Dhaka, I had arrived 26 days ago as the city was preparing for the dark. The journey in log jammed traffic had taken 2hrs, this morning as the haze of pollution still lingers like a morning mist, it takes only half an hour. When we had arrived at the airport nearly a month ago, we had heard the evening call to prayer – I leave now in the dawn, as the city starts to move. Things in Dhaka don’t seem to stop, people sweep the dust in the streets left by the construction lorries, spinning it up in the air only for it to descend somewhere else. One thing that I will not miss about Dhaka is the thin grey film of dust which falls silently and coats everything – the bath, the sink, clothes, the floor. Whilst the pollution is bad here, Bangladesh has taken bigger steps than some; plastic bags are banned and natural gas powered vehicles are much more common than in the UK, all rickshaws in the cities are CNG powered.

The journey to the airport was relatively quiet, just the occassional horn, a thing I will not miss is the constancy of their noise here too.

Some of the sounds were amazing to hear, experiencing a city wake with the ripples of song, the men calling for alms on a Friday, the musical rhythm of the metalworkers hammering, the tinkle of the rickshaw bells. Bangladesh gets into all of your senses.

Dhaka - Delhi, Dehli - Mumbai, Mumbai - Ahmedabad.

We fly out over the top of the National Assembly Building, the Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban and head out to roughly follow the line of the river Ganges, passing between Patna and Varanasi with a glimpse of Kathmandu and the Himalayas peaking through the clouds in the distance.

The Ganges river had been used by the East India Company as a main trade route for shipping goods from across India to the coast via Kolkata (Calcutta), and then out into the Bay of Bengal and off to markets across the seas. For Hindus the Ganges is the holiest of all rivers. It is central to the history of the Indian subcontinent.

"The Ganges, above all is the river of India, which has held India's heart captive and drawn uncounted millions to her banks since the dawn of history. The story of the Ganges, from her source to the sea, from old times to new, is the story of India's civilization and culture, of the rise and fall of empires, of great and proud cities, of adventures of man…". Nehru: 'The Discovery of India'.

As the plane moves towards Dehli, the land below becomes a patchwork of fields.

Near Mumbai there are stunning mountains.

I liked the patterns, lines and markings on the runways.
It feels odd, now, sitting at Mumbai airport, waiting for my third flight of the day to Ahmedabad, I am surrounded by tourists of all ages and origins. Having spent the last 26 days seeing only approximately 10 other ‘white’ westerners and at times feeling like the oddity, its feels comforting to be able to disappear and blend into the background. Britto have helped us to see beyond the tourist and to get inside a tiny bit of Bangladesh, to see the exciting and culturally intense aspects of that country, to see the things that make them as artists 'tick' to see the things and share what inspires.

I liked the vinyl drawings on the walls in the airport at Mumbai, even though some bits were missing.

I land in Ahmedabad, Gujarat and I'm met by 'Jonny' owner of Ahmedabad Travel, a tour guide company and friend of Arts Reverie. He takes me to Dhal ne Pol, he talks of the mad traffic and how busy and hectic it is on the roads. We pass several of the cities gates. I feel overwhelmed by the idea of further visual and cultural stimulas. The roads seem relatively calm and empty compared to Dhaka. I'm in India!

Packing

My last day in Bangladesh was a slow and gentle one, time to reflect on the events and experiences of Bangladesh. I spent time sorting and packing, preparing to go on to Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India for the second stage of the fellowship.

I briefly visited New Market to get some last minute things.

Whilst Thurle and I had been away in Srimongol it had rained in Dhaka and there was a heady and tropical heat.

The mango trees were pleased. The rain had washed their leaves. The water had prompted them to burst into colour and bud, ready to turn into juicy mangos.

In the evening Britto took over Owens and Lenas apartment and organised a party to welcome Elena back and say good bye to Thurle and I. It was good to see, say goodbye to and to be able to thank many of the people who had made our time so valuable and special in Bangladesh. My thanks to Britto, CRAC and all those I met for their welcome and generosity. Thurle will be staying a little longer and flying to India in 4 days time, I wish to see something of the Holi Festival in Gujarat, so am departing a few days earlier.

It was sad to leave, I have had an amazing time. There are some aspects of living in Dhaka and Bangladesh that are difficult to experience and comprehend and I had only seen a small part of the city and the country. It is a place of extremes; skill, craftsmanship, inventiveness, wealth, beauty, generosity, poverty, pollution......

I have learnt an immense amount and gained new personal insights into the country and culture.

I leave inspired and impressed by the energy and dynamic here. Bangladesh is a country and a people that have been through an immense amount of change in relatively recent history. Despite being battered by natural disasters and war, I come away with respect for an outward and foward looking people, resilient, resourceful, immensely proud, modest and protective of their culture, history and identity.

I feel that I have just started to find my feet with some of the threads of interest, the metal working and the woven metal artefacts are really exciting. I would like to research more and continue to explore and discover more of the bamboo weaving too. There are further places I would like to visit; the Chittagongs, the Sunderbans, and places I would like to visit again in more detail. Although I have only touched the surface here; the time at Owens, with Britto, with CRAC, at Dhamrai and with the people we have met, have helped me to get a little below the surface and to get a more 'embedded' sense of life here, I am very grateful. I'm leaving Bangladesh exhausted and visually saturated, but with a thirst to learn more.

Shrimongol to Dhaka

After visiting Lawachara National Park we returned to the cottage, collected our bags and headed for the station to return to Dhaka, enroute we went via some more of the villages.

The ice cream man was there, with a painted aluminium coolbox fitted to his bike.

On the platform someone had a wonderful bag/ basket made from packaging, layered together like papier mache.

As we headed back to Dhaka much of the land we passed through had once been forest, areas have been cleared both for their timber and for tea and rice production.

We paused at stations along the way where boys sold water and snacks to the people on the trains. At some of the stations children jumped onto the trains to collect the plastic bottles and other items for recycling, leaving before the train departed.

Slowly the daylight faded and the light from villages and shops along the route caught my attention. In the outskirts of Dhaka, people shopped near to the level crossings. The shanti's close to the railway line were lit up.

See parts of the journey here: Pani. Tea & Rice. Clearing. Pause. Light. Lights.

Lawachara National Park & Tribal Village

We hitched a lift in an auto rickshaw with some locals and made our way to Lawachara National Park, some 8km east of Srimongol. Lawachara is one of five initial pilot sites across Bangladesh to begin adapting a 'Protected area co-management' approach, under the guidance and direction of Nishorgo.

A beautiful tropical forest, the area (1531ha) is home to hundreds of wildlife, including some 246 species of birds as well as reptiles, amphibians, insects and primates including the endangered Hoolock Gibbon and the Slow Loris. The Park forms part of the larger West Bhanugach Reserve and was once a managed timber plantation. It has only been established as a national park and protected since 1996.

Excessive fuel wood collection, Illicit timber extraction, tourism, land encrouchment, gas pipelines all continue to threaten this habitat.

There are set pathways and walks around the reserve and eco guides are available to hire to take you around the park. Many of the guides are local people, trained as part of the Nishorgo project, with some knowledge of the park and the wildlife.

Within the park (and around the tea plantations) are several ' tribal villages'.

Some are Khasia villages called 'Punji' others are Monipuri villages called 'Para'.

The settlements date back to the early 1940's when people were settled in the area to carry out logging and plantation work in the forest.

We visited a Khasai Punji.

The Khasai communities are forest dependent and use the forest as a source of firewood (to cook and to sell), bamboo, cane (for weaving baskets and mats), wild vegetables, fruits and medicinal plants. They also hunt wild animals, fish and birds. Some of the Khasai are engaged in daily manual labour.

The majority of Khasai are Christian or Hindu. This was the village church.

The villagers were each given 1.2ha of land, they use the land to cultivate lemons and pineapple and are allowed to cultivate betel leaves, their only cash crop, in the forest. The betel plant is an evergreen climber and requires trees to grow up.

The leaf is used for 'pan', a mild stimulant. Leaves are pasted with lime, shavings of areca nut and cinnamon then wrapped into a parcel and chewed. One of the identifying features resulting from a person chewing pan is the red saliva.

A Khasai woman sorting betel leaves.

A Khasai family sitting on a cane mat.

Preparing pan.

Tools for preparing pan.A special knife designed for collecting betel leaves, the collector sometimes has to climb high into the tree canopy to collect the leaves.Different shaped baskets are used to collect the leaves. They are positioned on the back between the shoulder blades, sometimes supported by a band across the forehead or worn like a rucksack.

They baskets have beautiful forms, made with different weaves.

A simple but beautifully made brush.

Use of bamboo poles for drying the clothes.

The houses were awash with colour. Some looked like specially arranged compositions and reminded me of Bruce Chatwin photography.

Some were very bright others had a no-less beautiful, more muted, palette.

Some houses were brightly painted and included the owners names and the dates they were built.

A wonderful line of dots had been created in the earth around one house, formed by the rain running off the corrugated tin roof.
A dot to dot line drawn in the earth, leading around the house.Charcoal marks.
Many buildings were cut into the hillsides of the rolling landscape.The houses were made of different materials depending upon the wealth of the owners, some were brick and cement others concrete, some were wood or mud, others bamboo.

The whole village was a visual feast of colours, compositions, textures, surfaces and constructions.Mud rendered over a bamboo lattice.
A red mark of pan coloured spit below the window.

Blocks of mud rendered with clay.

A more modern bamboo and zinc building built on stilts on the brink of a very steep hill.

A more traditional clay and bamboo (or bark) wall.

The scale of the bamboo made for different qualities in walls.

Most properties had a veranda space, outside to protect from the sun or the rain, used by the occupants to cook, sit or work.

The wide roof allowed for the rain to run off away from the building.

The village had its own school at the top of a hill, with six pupils.

Outside they had built their own Shaheed Minar, which had been used to celebrate Ekushey.