From a Lump of Metal to an Object of Art: Brief Notes from a Trip Around Assam

Folkloristics 7/2 (2022):
Author: Bhupen Rabha and Zoja Karanović
Text:

The authors spent some time in the villages around Town area committee in Barpeta region in September 2022. The mentioned area, situated in the Indian federal state of Assam, has been known since long time for handcrafting different metal utensils (mostly out of bell metal), which today have an important role in everyday and ritual life We have observed their work in Sarthebari and talked to people who make them. We obtained important information about the certain position of these objects in creating identity of people in Assam.

Keywords: India, Assam, fieldwork, tradition, identity, bell metal utensils, handmade.