The Patua Pinocchio

Bengali scroll painter Chitrakar reimagines The Adventures of Pinocchio using traditional Indian folk art iconography. Thickly painted figures in bright bold colors appear in panels throughout the story; Geppetto is pictured as a serene, mustachioed figure with long, inky hair and mustard-colored skin, while Pinocchio, whose nose resembles a small elephant trunk, is the color of cinnamon and wears a sarong and ornate jewelry. Chitrakar embraces the story’s many fantastical elements in her stylized work. For example, she depicts the Talking Cricket, who returns as a ghost after Pinocchio kills it with a hammer, as a golden dragonlike creature with fishlike scales and teeth. A visually striking cultural remix of a classic piece of children’s literature. Ages 12–up. (May)