Tribal arts & innovation centre : Shantiniketan

Abstract

In the reconstruction of the society, Rabindranath Tagore had introduced the idea of a global society in which learning through nature was given more importance than man-made institutions. The establishment of a small town in West Bengal named Shantiniketan stands as an epitome of Tagore’s idea of a global society with the initiation of the Viswa Bharti University, where learning and nature were closely harmonized. Shantiniketan embodies Tagore’s vision of a place of learning that is free from religious and regional barriers. Opposing the British rule, the Bengal Art Movement was initiated by Tagore to revive the art and craft forms native to Bengal. He commenced a rural rejuvenation programme for the tribal communities of the region to reinvigorate their art and craft to a larger community. The ideologies of Tagore have been sinking ever since his death. There is an evident difference between the era of Tagore and the present day. He associated the present civilization characterized by exploitation, which has turned out to be the case. This leads to an unsocial individualism where the tribal are overtaken by globalisation and have lost their identity. The thesis aims at the revival of the indigenous tribal art and craft forms through an integration of design principles inspired from the Tagorean prototype by the translation of a vernacular style of architecture into a contemporary one.