343 years after its extinction, Kashmir artisans give wings to the dodo in papier mache

Dodo, a bird that went extinct many centuries ago, being carved out by papier mache artisans in Srinagar’s Zadibal area.
| Photo Credit: IMRAN NISSAR

This Christmas, papier mache artisans in Srinagar have given wings to thousands of dodos, a bird that became extinct in 1681 from the world just within 80 years of their interaction with humans and exposure to depleting forests.

Reyaz Jan, in his 70s, was giving a final touch to a papier mache of the bird he has never seen in his life at a ‘karkhana’ in Srinagar’s Zadibal area. “I was introduced to the shape and size of the bird from pictures first. Of late, we downloaded its images from the Internet. The shape and size of the bird is endearing. I fell in love with the bird at first sight. It’s sad the bird is no more seen anywhere,” Mr. Jan said.

A magical touch of yellow to the hooked tips and stout legs and dark green to the rear curly feathers by Mr. Jan gives life to the dodo, albeit in papier mache. Over 50,000 papier mache dodos have set their feet in offshore markets of Europe and Mauritius in East Africa already this year, just ahead of Christmas.

“Dodos were last seen in Mauritius. The bird is important to the place and is the national emblem there. We mostly export papier mache dodos to the country. There is a huge demand for dodo products, which come in different sizes,” Faizan Mir, who runs Mir Arts, an exclusive papier mache arts showroom, at Srinagar’s Hawal, said. It takes 5-10 days to create large-sized dodos in the city’s karkhanas.

Dodo, a bird that went extinct many centuries ago, being carved out by papier mache artisans in Srinagar’s Zadibal area.
| Photo Credit:
IMRAN NISSAR

This dodo is colourful

Fast disappearing from people’s memory, the fearless and flightless bird, approximately three-feet tall, has a new home in the papier mache world of Kashmir, which otherwise was mainly influenced by Persia, its motifs and figures.

The dodos, which originally had grey or brown plumage, have got colours in papier mache with floral and forest prints adorning the body. “The floral prints symbolise how it was the depleting forest cover that resulted in the extinction of the bird,” Mr. Jan said.

Besides dangling balls, jingles, crescents, Santas, stars and boxes, this year Kashmir has exported dodos in large quantities too. “Our karkhana produced over 3,000 dodos this season for exports,” Mr. Mir said.

600 years of papier mache in Kashmir

Most papier mache artisans know little of how dodos were introduced in Kashmir’s art scene. However, the bird is a very recent addition to the craft, which has been practised in Kashmir for over 600 years now. There are many stories about the arrival of dodos in Kashmir.

“There were tourists from Mauritius who visited Kashmir and introduced the bird around two decades ago. There is no written record though of who exactly got it here. It’s a very new addition to the array of articles Kashmir produces in papier mache,” Mr. Jan said.

Thanks to those unknown tourists, the dodos have got wings and the demand for them is only growing with each passing day. “Papier mache artisans of Kashmir are keeping the memory of dodos alive. A local craft space is making them in hundreds and exporting them to the place where it went extinct and elsewhere,” Mahmood Shah, who served as Director Handicrafts and Handloom in Kashmir till recently, told The Hindu.