Project Status:
Current
Lead Organisation:
Janakpur Women’s Development Center
Grant Award:
£50,000
Project Summary:
Maithil women have great pride in their traditions, as this skill was traditionally passed down from mothers to daughters, upheld by women for centuries through art on walls of their mud houses.
The project focuses on Maithil women paintings and mud art heritage, which is a form of earthen architecture used to decorate mud houses with symbolic imagery that represents religious tradition of the Maithil community.
The drought has led to limited sources of income, and women’s role in society has been limited to taking care of their households while men seek employment abroad, which has led to their artistic skills and heritage to be unpractised and forgotten.
Training local women in Maithil painting and mud work will ensure local people have developed skills to protect the heritage and practice the unique craft of Maithil tradition. The interviews with elderly Maithil artisans will allow local communities to better understand and value their cultural heritage. By decorating the houses in Kuwa village, using the acquired Maithil artwork tradition, local communities play an active role in protecting their cultural heritage through training and practice – and the local area is enhanced for the benefit of communities and visitors.
