Crowdfunding campaign launched in Hong Kong to set up art school in India
Entrepreneur Yosha Gupta was smitten by Madhubani painting after she received a high-end handbag featuring the art form; she now wants to help the painters
A Hong Kong-based entrepreneur has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to build a school in India to keep classic Indian art flowing and equip girls from poor families with the means to make ends meet.
The campaign hopes to raise US$15,000 by the end of this month to build a school to teach what is known as Madhubani painting to young girls in the Indian state of Bihar.
The art work dates back to the seventh century BC in Bihar. Hindu gods, plants, animals and geometric shapes are hallmarks of the art.
Madhubani art has been traditionally dominated by women as a way of earning extra income while their husbands worked as farmers, labourers or small business owners.
Yosha Gupta, who spearheads the campaign together with a non-profit organisation, wants to establish the school for girls in the hope that by teaching girls the ancient art, it will help preserve it for the next generation, while at the same time give practitioners the ability to be financially independent.