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Hello!
Welcome to the Dusty Clay Diaries. My name is Cynthia Siegel, and I’m currently writing this blog from Kolkata, West Bengal, India. So what’s the fuss about? In the fall of 2011, I participated in an artist’s residency at Sanskriti Kendra in Delhi, India. Through the Sanskriti Foundation’s Museum of Terracotta, I was introduced to […]
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Kumartuli – the first visit
On the morning of my second day in India, I had the great fortune to make my first trip to Kumartuli, which is a neighborhood of image-makers that is located slightly north of the center of Kolkata. Leading the way was the delightful Partha Dey, a Kolkata native and visual artist who was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Iowa a few years ago.
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Shantiniketan
In between my first and second visits to the image-makers of Kumartuli, I spent some time in Shantiniketan. It’s a small, quiet (compared to Kolkata!) town about three hours by train from Kolkata, and it has become something of a second home destination for people wishing to take a break from the faster pace of the city. […]
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A Dentist to Lions
Dilipda is preparing no less than five images for Jagadhatri Puja, which is celebrated throughout West Bengal and parts of Odissa about one week after Kali Puja (late October to early November) and exactly one month after Durga Puja. Jagadhatri is considered to be a calm incarnation of Durga. She is known as the “Holder of […]
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Residency at Maihol House
How wonderful! In January I was invited to be part of an international group of ceramic artists who would be working together at Maihol House, an artists’ residency center in Maihar, Madhya Pradesh. Countries represented are India, Australia, Latvia, France, and the USA. Maihol House is also the family home of Ambica Beri, who owns […]
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A Project With Ektara
My work on the Elements project really whetted my appetite for more exploration in creating temporary, collaborative sculpture in which the viewer’s participation becomes an integral part of the work. I began developing ideas for new projects while observing preparations at Kumartuli for Saraswati Puja. Then after returning from my trip to Molela and Nathdwara, I searched Kolkata for […]