Some travels linger on our mind long after coming back home. I have just returned
from a heritage tour to Madhya Pradesh and am still soaked in overwhelming
experience of studying some of the finest architectural expression of Buddhist
and Hindu temple art and philosophy, ancient cave paintings and my rendezvous with
weavers and tribal artists during the visit to their homes has left me spellbound!
India, with its
diverse customs and traditions from different states is one melting pot that
assimilates rich cultural practices. As one
goes into interior parts of the country, interesting narratives unfold layer by
layer and one can't help but deeply bow to the immense treasure of folk/tribal
art forms that are carried forward for centuries through rituals and oral
traditions without any documentation. These ancient customs, traditions and art
practices are meant to celebrate life in all its hues and are seamless part of everyday life of the artisans.
Traditional Indian folk/tribal arts are the testimony of rich Indian heritage of centuries. Unfortunately, they are yet to get their due. These art forms rarely get toasted at high profile art events that are reserved for crème de la crème or get the attention, respect and remuneration like contemporary art. There is lot to learn from tribal people. While we often use terms like "sustainable living", "environment conscious" or "mindful living" as fashion statements, the indigenous people have been walking the talk since centuries and it is high time we take some lessons from them not only about life but art and culture too. There is beauty in their rawness, spontaneity, rough lines and vibrant colors and forms that are born out of continuous dialogue with Nature. But to understand that, one has to be in touch with Nature and have sense of reverence the tribal people practice in their everyday life.
This article is about tribal art form of painting from Madhya Pradesh, known as Gond. I was
fortunate to meet some celebrated, traditional Gond artists at their homes and
get a glimpse of their work, life and fascinating stories from their indigenous
culture.
The
Gond painting: Magic of lines, dots and colours!
Gonds are one of the major tribal communities in
India predominantly from Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgadh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka
and are immensely gifted people carrying on legacy of extraordinary art and
crafts. The Gond tribe is closely connected with Nature and their art is as
pristine as the lush green land they hail from.
The history of Gond tribe tells how over period of time, with Mughals conquering their lands and later with Britishers plundering their source of income, support for the tribe’s oral
traditions started dwindling. Forced to live life of penury, the Gonds were compelled to take labour work but the stories that were passed down through generations remained in their hearts and found voice in visual medium through auspicious designs on their huts, entrances,
walls and floors. Like most indigenous tribes, Gonds are blessed with great
sense of aesthetics and strongly believe that perceiving/viewing a good image brings
in great luck.
The Gond paintings
were originally made with help of natural colours obtained from coloured soil, minerals, charcoal,
cow dung, plants and flowers. With the change in surface on which painting is
done and natural colours becoming bit difficult to procure, the Gond tribe has
changed the medium to acrylic colours, paper and canvas. However, their themes still remain the same;
folklore, daily life, creation myths, festivals, celebrations, major events of life, harvesting, legends and Gods, Goddesses and demons. The narrative is
beautifully rendered using dots, lines, dashes, curves and spectacular colours with perfect harmony and balance. It is amazing how the
style changes with each artist displaying inherent signature genre with her/his own vocabulary. Once the subject is decided, the outline is drawn and then filled with dots, strokes and vivid colours adding interesting perspective to the imagery.
Presenting here some of the artists I had honour to meet during my recent heritage tour to Madhya Pradesh.
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| Award winning Gond artist, Durgabai Vyam. at her residence in Bhopal |
Durgbai Vyam, sister of
legendry Gond artist Jangarhsing Shyam has a distinct “mahura” style of
her own, which is inspired by jewelry. Her paintings are about simple, rural daily
life while her husband likes to draw “dhigna” which is traditionally
geometrical in nature and drawn on all four sides of the painting. Their immensely gifted daughter is a force to reckon
with in contemporary art world. A graduate from NIFT Banglore, Roshni has a very
refreshing perspective on importance of indigenous visual traditions and has unique
colour palette that can cater to contemporary as well as traditional art
lovers.
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| Gond painting by late Gond artist, Jangarhsingh Shyam's daughter Japani |
Like her celebrated late father, the legendry Gond
artist Jangarhsing Shyam, Japani works with bold colours that delve in themes
like trees; significance of Nature, creation myths, flora and fauna, Bara Dev, animals and
birds and abstract concepts like dreams. Her imagery and rendition of the
concepts is simply mind blowing!
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| Family members of legendary artist Jangarhsingh Shyam |
Mayank Shyam, son of
pioneering artist Jangarhsingh Shyam has created his own beautiful style of Gond painting. His forms are comparatively very different (androgynous)
and large, his strokes bold yet fluid, colours tweaked and one can almost see
the context evolved with his visual grammar that is result of exposure to the
contemporary art world and a shift in socio-economic dynamics.
The
best thing of meeting all members of Jangarhsingh Shyam’s family together was
understanding how each artist is uniquely different when it comes to interpretation, ideation and rendition despite
using the same traditional techniques of the art form!
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| A playful work, depicting what happens to people after consumption of liquor, by Sukhnandi Shyam |
Sukhnandi Vyam’s Gond paintings have fascinating fluidity. His themes
are playful, his colours and strokes have lyrical quality to them. Sukhnandi
also sculpts and works extensively with multiple mediums like clay, canvas, metal
and wood. His wooden sculptures won him great recognition with Madhya Pradesh
State Government award in 2002.
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| Venkatraman Singh Shyam with his wife and son |
Venkat Raman singh Shyam’s work is vibrant and mystical. There are interesting stylistic influences and one can see how he is finding
his space in world of modern Indian art. Awarded the Rajya Hasta Shilpa Puraskar by
the government of Madhya Pradesh in 2002, his paintings are about
legendary fables associated with Gods and demons, beasts and reptiles, recurrent themes from everyday social life. Venkat Singh
Shyam’s colours are bold, imagery fascinating and language both traditional and
contemporary. He bemoans lack of respect for environment and his concern is
evidently visible in his themes and talks.
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| Gond work by Venkatraman Singh Shyam |
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| Depiction of the tales from the folklore being explained by Sukhnandi Shyam |
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| A scene from village, work by Sukhnandi Shyam |
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| Gond painting by Nankusia Shyam, wife of Jangarhsing Shyam |
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| Work by Sukhnandi Shyam |
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| Painting by Gond artist Mayank Shyam |
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| Gond painting by Nankusia Shyam, wife of Jangarhsing Shyam |
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| Gond paintings by artist Sukhnandi Shyam |
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| Gond painting by Nankusia Shyam, wife of Jangarhsing Shyam |
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| Gond painting in ink by Nankusia Shyam, wife of Jangarhsing Shyam |
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| Gond work by Mayank Shyam |
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| Gond painting in ink by Nankusia Shyam, wife of Jangarhsing Shyam |
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| Gond painting by Nankusia Shyam, wife of Jangarhsing Shyam |
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| Gond artist Mayank Shyam showing work at his Bhopal residence |
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| With Gond artist Sukhanandi Shyam |
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| Gond work by Mayank Shyam |
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| Gond paintings by artist Mayank Shyam |
