Dhamarai Metal Crafts is the work of a family living in a village not far
off the main road back to Dhaka from BRAC. This Hindu village saw much
prosperity during British rule because of their popular brass work and the
large British market. This prosperity is evident in the building we pulled up to with amazement. Very
elaborate, it's 27 rooms are now mostly empty. A university graudate and
the grandson of the home's builder, Sukanta
Banik wishes to start a kind of learning center to share his knowledge
of the "lost-wax" method they still use. Currently, there's a little studio
nearby that is used. In today's market, there's less demand for quality and
more for quantity. "Lost-wax" brass is time consuming as casting requires a
different wax mold be made for every piece. The wax is kept warm while
molded into traditional figures
using only two
tools. Clay is applied around this mold creating a clay mold with
holes to access the inside. Hot metal is then poured into the hole
displacing all the wax. When cooled, the clay is
the chipped off, cleaned and polished. On site there is a sales room.
Other products besides the tradional Hindu
figures have been made as Shahjahan
demonstrates.
After seeing the creation of such wonderful crafts, we
had a tasty meal made by Sukanta's mother. We ate traditionally, on a
mat on the floor or a short stool and eating with
our hands. Fresh fried bread called poori was abundant and we even got a
glipmse of how
they are made. |
