In Bengal villages, artists are using wall murals to check human-elephant conflict-OxBig News Network

In West Bengal’s forest-dominated Jhargram area, where human-elephant conflict appears to be on the rise, an artists’ collective from Kolkata stationed there for a few years now is using wall art to build awareness along locals about avoiding confrontation with the animal.

In four villages here, artists from Chalchitra Academy, with the help of local students, are livening up walls of homes with the message that humans should not provoke elephants coming to look for food. This could be a first-of-its-kind initiative.

“The human-elephant conflict is making constant headlines here now. Sometimes it is the elephants killing humans, sometimes it is the other way. It is mainly because of deforestation or mining that elephants are walking into villages in search of food, destroying crops and damaging homes. While it is up to the government to take preventive measures, such as building a corridor for elephants or arranging for their food, as artists we can only make villagers aware how to deal kindly with the jumbos,” said artist Mrinal Mandal, a graduate of Kolkata’s Government Arts College and a founding member of Chalchitra Academy, who has been living in Jhargram since 2018.

He first chanced upon the village of Lalbazar during his search for rural art and, charmed by its beauty, engaged the Chalchitra Academy to transform it into an art hub, earning the sobriquet ‘Khwaabgaon’, or Dream Village. In late 2023, the collective picked up another village about 7 km away, called Konedoba, for similar transformation.

The collective teaches art to villagers, not only getting them to paint the walls of their own homes but also making them learn tribal art by holding frequent workshops in which veteran artists from nearby villages are invited.

It is now in Konedoba, along with nearby villages of Dorkhuli, Suhabasha and Jorakhali, where the collective is using art to create awareness about being tolerant with elephants, asking them to keep a distance from the animal and not incite them. The campaign is led by artist Koustab Chakraborty, another member of the Chalchitra Academy.

“Wall mural is thousands of years old and this medium of story-telling works even today. Whenever you take such art to people, they enjoy and learn. Whatever the government does is different, but I am hoping that the younger generation will be kinder to animals after engaging with our art,” Mr. Mandal said.

The village of Konedoba, along with nearby villages of Dorkhuli, Suhabasha and Jorakhali, is where the collective is now using art to create awareness about being tolerant with elephants, asking them to keep a distance from the animal and not incite them. The campaign is led by artist Koustab Chakraborty, another member of the Chalchitra Academy who is active in Jhargram.

“Wall mural is something that is thousands of years old and this medium of story-telling works even today, even in the age of Instagram reels. Whenever you take such art to people, they enjoy and they learn. Whatever the government does is different, but I am hoping that the younger generation will be kinder to animals after engaging with our art,” Mr. Mandal said.