A good number are women. The artists are persuaded to speak, often at length. When they speak of art, these artists make no distinction, as is often done in the West, between craft and art, between objects of utility and those made for pleasure. Every medium has the possibility of art, and what signifies art is the achievement of excellence in that medium. It belongs to the daily round of work, and even its most glorious products are meshed in commerce and destined for participatory roles in human affairs.'' For Haripada Pal, the sculptor of religious figures, art and worship mingle in a common stream.
Prayer brings the love that is essential to creation.
Through love he is able to fashion God, the infinite, in material forms of beauty. I love to create,'' he says. But success robs him of the essential pleasure of his art. Religious tolerance is a striking feature of this world. Tapati Rani Dey, a sophisticated Hindu, paints the most pervasive symbol of Islam, the Taj Mahal, for the Muslim rickshaw trade.