How Indian Patachitra artistes narrated stories before social media took over

Untitled (Kartikeya); Kalighat Patua Watercolour, graphite, ink and colloidal tin on paper c. 1870, Calcutta,

| Photo Credit: Kiran Nadar Museum Art

Long before social media and streaming platforms transformed the way stories travel, India had its own network of itinerant storytellers. Armed with painted scrolls and songs, they carried news, myths and social commentary from one place to another, captivating audiences long before the arrival of newspapers, cinema or television.An ongoing exhibition (May 16-November 16) at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), Delhi, revisits this age-old tradition. Titled Pata Dekhabo? (Shall I Show You a Pata?) it brings together 46 reproductions from the KNMA collectives alongside works from other institutional and public collections to explore the intertwined visual and performative traditions of Bengal and Jharkhand. More than a display of scroll paintings, the exhibition offers an in-depth analysis of storytelling as a living cultural practice that continues to evolve with changing times.Interestingly, the title of the exhibition comes from a phrase traditionally used by Bengal’s Patua artists when inviting audiences to view a painted scroll. It reveals how the artists narrated or sang stories with the unfurling of each panel, breathing life into the static images and creating an immersive, multisensory form of storytelling long before the concept of modern multimedia existed.”