Even today, the Waddo is a place suspended in time practically unchanged from the past, where a long standing tradition of woodcraft continues to survive through a bloodline of artisans. Stretched along a serene lake-khazaan, the village soundscape is eternally humming with the soft rhythm of hand planers, chisels and occasional machine tools echoing from the workshops that adjoin almost every home. Using the historic wet-plate-collodion process—a slow and demanding photographic method from 1851—this work seeks to mirror the history of the Chari as a portraiture of their unbroken lineage and continued legacy. From 2021 to 2023, Mrinal Bahukhandi learnt the basics of woodworking in Chari Waddo from members of the community.
Artist: Mrinal Bahukhandi
Additional Credit: Atelier Monad, Goa
The Old GMC Complex
