Gitanjali Das

“I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman.”

― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

Often in folk arts, one observes when at the time of passing down tradition fathers leave out daughters from their inheritance. In order to gatekeep their tradition from passing onto ‘outsiders’ master artists would not teach their sacred art to the daughters so that they wouldn’t teach their husbands or children. Breaking this norm Gitanjali Das began learning the art form of Pattachitra at the age of ten from her Guru Late Shri Arjun Mohrana who was a National Award-winning artist. Born in 1987, she broke the norm by becoming one of the few female artists practicing Pattachitra art in today’s time. Disciplined in the Pattachitra form and technique her work mainly focuses on Hindu religious themes which she paints on Tussar Silk and hand-made canvas. She has participated in several art exhibitions in and around Orissa with her late husband who was also a fellow Pattachitra artist.