Shitalpati artisans need govt support

The century-old traditional craft of Bengali artisans, Shitalpati, is facing an existential crisis for the declining demand, lack of marketing publicity, rise in plastic floor coverings and products, and a steep fall in the number of artisans.

Hundreds of artisans living across Moulvibazar and Sylhet had to abandon their ancestral profession because of its low return and the rest of the artisans, who are still involved in this craft, are facing a severe financial crisis.

The legacy of Sylhet’s Shitalpati can be traced back several hundred years — from Balaganj to the royal court of Queen Victoria of Great Britain. Historians also say Bengal’s first Nawab, Murshid Quli Khan, gifted a Shitalpati to the 17th century Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.

Biresh Das, a resident of Gogra village in Barlekha’s Talimpur union of Moulvibazar, weaves Shitalpati for the past 25 years. He told The Business Post that weaving Shitalpati is his ancestral profession and he does not know any other work to earn his livelihood.

He inherited the craft from his father, who learnt the artistry from his father. After decades in the family business, Biresh now wants to quit, as selling Shitalpati is no longer earning him the money to support his family.

He blames the rise in the use of plastic in the past few decades as the primary factor for the decline in Shitalpati industry. The coronavirus pandemic has only added to the fall.

“I used to have multiple people working for me, most of them were my neighbours, before the pandemic. Now, I work alone as all of them left the profession when sales declined and opted for other professions.”

“I’m too thinking of leaving the profession, but I do not know any other work,” he said while weaving a colourful Shitalpati.

Echoing Biresh, Manik Das, another Shitalpati artisan of Gogra, said that had he known of any other work or found any other profession, he would leave this craft as it fails to cater for his family.

“Artisans like us are living hand to mouth now as the sales have plunged. If we could collect easy term loans, cash assistance and training from the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), we could have found a way to carry on with our ancestral profession,” he said.

Manik informed that it takes seven to 15 days to make an average-sized Shitalpati, which can be sold at Tk1500-2000. Larger ones, usually seven feet in length and five feet in width, can take up to five months to make, with a selling price of between Tk 1,500-Tk 25,000. Manik said that a good quality mat can last up to 25 to 30 years.

The art of making Shitalpati comprises of weaving together strips of a green cane known as ‘Murta’, he says. The majority of Shitalpati artisans are based in Sylhet, where Murta grows in vast quantities in the lowlands. Over 200 acres of forest areas within or near Chhatak Pourashava have been brought under Murta cultivation by the Forest Department to facilitate the Shitalpati weavers.

The craft is also practised in Chattogram, Cumilla, Barisal, Tangail and Lakshmipur, Faridpur, Noakhali, Mymensingh, Jhalakati, Patuakhali, and Khulna regions, says the local Forest Department officials.

Local artisans said that the mats are known by many names, including Nakshi, Siki, Adhali, Taka, Nayantara, Asmantara, Chira etc, based on the area they are produced and kinds.

Barlekha Upazila Nirbahi Officer Khandaker Mudassir Bin Ali told The Business Post that they had taken the initiative to train the old Shitalpati weavers and others, who want to learn this age-old craft, to popularise and create a steady marketing channel for the craft.

“We will soon initiate the training programme in the localities famous for the craft, and our main target would be the youths so that they learn this craft and impart their knowledge to their children,” he said.

UNESCO, in 2017 listed the art of weaving Shitalpati on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity. The traditional mat has also been awarded the Gold Medal at the Kolkata Crafts Exhibition.

Monindra Nath, a revered artisan of Shitalpati from Balaganj, was awarded for representing Shitalpati at the World Crafts Exhibition in Rome, Italy, in 1991.

According to the National Museum, about 4000 families from 100 villages of Sylhet Division have been engaged in the industry for more than one hundred years.