Ramawatar Singh is a naturalist, who takes pleasure in collecting seeds with the help of some pieces of wires and bits of paper, he creates magic out of these simple throwaway items - but not for sale
Designing jewellery out of the handpicked seeds since 2005, Ramawatar Singh who has not learnt this art anywhere except the school of life, believes that there is no better teacher than Mother Nature. A traveller, he picks up seeds from wherever he goes and his collection of a variety of seeds exceeds 100 now. In it are seeds from Marodhphali (the Indian Screw Tree), Kaknasa (Tiger Claws), Talwar Phali (Sword Bean), Ratti (Crab’s Eye) and Raktachandan (Red Sandalwood) in majority. Most seeds are of native plants, which grow in bulk in the forests of Uttarakhand and Central India. Using the seeds he collect to make organic jewellery, this had become Ramawatar’s life-long mission to bring people closer to the environment in a creative manner.
Ramawatar travels across the country to conduct organic jewellery making workshops and is invited by organisations and institutions to train others – whosoever is interested, women, artists, children and youth as well as students of art. Ramawatar will be conducting hands on seed jewellery workshops at Goa Chitra Museum on May 1 and 2 which will allow the participants to explore the wonderful world of organic and eco-friendly jewellery and learn to make this unique and contemporary style of ornaments themselves, by hand. Ramawatar’s technique is exquisite and famous for the intricate handcrafting using seeds, leaves, dried twigs, stalks, bark etc derived from nature, and encourages eco-friendly living.
“Organic jewellery is used as a symbol of sustainable lifestyle in tune with nature. Leaves flowers and natural designs would always leave a strong impression on my mind, which in turn reflects in my work,” says Ramawtar who has focussed on this one aspect of serving Mother Nature. Organic jewellery workshops has become his life-long mission to bring people closer to the environment in a creative manner.
A naturalist, Ramawatar also helps organise self-healing workshops, organic farming walks and cycle yatras. During farming expeditions and bird walks through the forest, this unusual jeweller would notice seeds of different sizes, shapes and hues scattered everywhere. One day, a spark was kindled. “There are a thousand types of seeds and a million ways to use them creatively,” thought this self-taught designer, who grew up in an agricultural household in Ajmer, Rajasthan. And he began working on the concept.
In the first year of his project, Ramawatar discovered that many of the seeds he collected had medicinal properties and some of them were rare. When he realised that these medicinal seeds were going extinct, he began to collect them cautiously and hand it over to local herbal doctors who used them for their medicines. Collecting seeds mostly from local plants, Ramawatar is one of the pioneers of the ‘Swapathgami’ network, an innovative system of ‘walkout-walk-on’ that supports those students who deviate from the educational field and turn their backs on the corporate world and jobs, to follow their heart with a passion for Nature. He himself is a dropout from school, who didn’t complete his college or search a government job and instead opted to do farming.
The seed jewellery that Ramawatar creates is not for sale, but it is used in his workshops as symbols of a sustainable lifestyle in tune with Nature. He quips, “Leaves, flowers and natural designs would always leave a strong impression on my mind, which in turn reflects in my work.” When he is on his jungle yatra, Ramawatar carries a cloth bag with him which is full of a variety of seeds when he returns from his trail.
Later, becoming a teacher he taught at Barefoot College and worked as a coordinator of the alternative schooling programme, supervising 150 schools across five districts of Rajasthan. It was in 2003 that he joined ‘Shikshantar’ in Udaipur - a movement that has churned a rethink of present education and development systems. Associating with ‘Shikshantar’ allowed Ramawatar to follow his passion and live his life mindfully. It brought an awareness in him and changed his way of thinking.
Asked about this unique art workshop, Victor Hugo Gomes, founder, Goa Chitra Museum points out that his museum is not just a collection or display. “Instead it’s a life lesson that inspires people to connect with each other and with their environments,” smiles Victor. He mentions that the museum has been organizing various workshops that promote ethnic and contemporary art practices to introduce and involve people to the world of arts and crafts. Such workshops offer an opportunity to the participants to learn varied techniques and hone their artistic talents. The first of its kind in Goa, these art courses follow strict professional ethics and give students an opportunity to learn precise techniques that were once used by traditional artisans.
In addition to these courses and as part of their museum merchandise project, the museum has taken an initiative of organizing workshops and designing and developing eco-friendly products with a philosophy that – ‘whatever we create, should not leave a scar on this planet, instead it should go back to the soil.’
Those who participate in the seed jewellery workshop, will get the opportunity to learn this intricate craft with the excitement of creating their own personal product that they get to take home. Those who to explore nature and organic life style will find that this workshop is just for them. On the basis of this training, participants can work with more intricate designs of their own creating for themselves designer jewellery to for personal wear or gift. As this technique requires exclusive attention there will be a limited number of seats on first come first basis. On each day there would be two batches of three hours each and the course fee would be inclusive of material. The batches would be from 10 am to 1 pm and 3 pm to 6 pm on May 1 and 2.
