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BILATERAL - CULTURE TRIBAL FOLK ART India has a rich tribal heritage, with about 645 tribes, big and small. Each tribe has its own history, culture and art form. The paintings in this section have drawn their inspiration from the tribal art form of two regions of India, namely Saura art from Orissa, the eastern part and Warli from Maharshtra, the western part of India. The Sauras, residing in Orissa, are one of the oldest tribes of India. This form of art is mostly found in Rayagada, Gajapati and Koraput districts of Orissa. Their traditional paintings originated out of their religious and ceremonial rituals They are generally painted to appease the Gods and ancestors The Saura deity contains various symbols and meanings, and the Saura paintings primarily revolve around them.. The central theme of most Saura paintings, called Idital is a house or temple for the ancestral spirits and gods. The whole panel, the Idital, consists of several horizontal and vertical sections, each showing a particular activity related to the religious ceremony and God being propitiated. Animals also play an important role. Tigers, monkeys, birds and peacocks are generally found in the paintings. The paintings are done on the inner walls of their huts. The Sauras believe that the ancestral spirits will reside in the walls and provide protection. Their art is a way of showing their respect to their Gods and Spirits while invoking their blessings for welfare and prosperity. Warli is an ancient tribe found in the foothills of the Western ghats of Maharashtra, India. These tribal people, who survive on forest produce and worship nature, have carved an international niche for themselves by virtue of their artistry. What originated as a domestic ritual of ceremonial beautification is now revered as a folk art of immense value. Warli paintings express everyday life using extremely basic object forms and just one colour – white – on an austere mud base. The painting style is close to pre-historic cave p a i n t i n g s . Traditionally, the walls were given a thorough wash 10 | YATRA | JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2011 Eminent Madhubani Painter Bharti Dayal at the inauguration of Folk Art Exhibition with High Commissioner and Director MGICC with cow dung and then red mud was smeared on that. This gave the walls a brownish finish. Women use bamboo twigs and thin rice paste to draw designs. Harvest and wedding scenes are the major themes. Other subjects found in these paintings are fields swaying with healthy crops, birds flying in the sky, a group dancing around a person playing the music, dancing peacocks, women cooking or busy in their other house chores and children playing. Warli art always contains groups of people. Both the above arts originally used to decorate the houses. Over the years they have changed and are found in all other textures, paper, cloth, textiles etc. Warli paintings are always monochromatic, while Saura artists at times use some other colours to brighten the paintings. Over the years several artists have taken to painting on white background with black. The artist, Gargi Kaul Mishra has drawn from both the art forms, and merged the figures and themes and presented her own interpretation. The layered paintings reflect the Saura form where the God or spirit is being propitiated and given offerings, the animals and the people protecting the God, giving sacrifice and the spirit in turn provides sustenance and safety. The group paintings reflect the Warli form, where various activities of a village are shown, from harvesting to dance, to child birth and other daily chores. All the paintings are in acrylic on paper. Digressing from the traditional colours of reddish brown background and white figures, she has used the white and black combination also. Gargi Kaul Mishra is a self taught artist, having observed this art form over the years. She started by painting the walls of her house wherever she was posted and then moved on to paper. MADHUBANI PAINTINGS Madhubani Painting Exhibition was sponsored by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), an autonomous organization of the Government of India. Madhubani painting, also known as Maithili, Chaitra The High Commission of India in Trinidad and Tobago, Port of Spain
and Godhana figure painting is a traditional rural art form initiated by the villagers from Madhubani, a village in Bihar, primarily for decorating their homes. Exclusively a feminine school of folk painting, this style was passed down from generation to generation in the far reaches of the Mithila Region, mainly by women. The exhibits are innate to life – for the spontaneous expression of joy, for propitiating the gods and goddesses and deal with various aspects of nature as well. Madhubani is one of the great art works which boast of humble roots. From the small homes of Madhuban, a village in Bihar, in the Mithila region is the place where these paintings come from. ‘Madhu’ means honey and ‘bans’ is forest. Madhubani is hilly forest terrain in Bihar state in eastern India. The history of ethnic paintings in India can be traced back to the Bhimbhetka Caves, where some of the earliest paintings of the neolithic period are found. Traditionally artists from this area are engaged in folk art. Paintings are one of the traditional skills passed from generation to generation in the families of the women of this village. They paint figures from nature and myth on household and village walls to mark the seasonal festivals and other occasions. Madhubani paintings are the exclusive monopoly of women artists, passing down for generations from mother to daughter. For commercial reasons, these paintings which were done on freshly plastered walls are now being done on paper and cloth. Themes: Madhubani painting is an emblematic expression of day to day experiences and beliefs. As such symbolism, simplicity and beauty hold them together in a single school of traditional art. The symbols that these Maithili painters use have their specific meanings as, for instance, fish symbolise fertility, procreation and good luck, peacocks are associated with romantic love and religion and serpents are the divine protectors. Madhubani or Maithili paintings The High Commission of India in Trinidad and Tobago, Port of Spain are known for their vibrant lines and striking colours. The main themes of Madhubani paintings contain images of Hindu Deities such as Krishna, Ram a Shiva, Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Apart from deities, the women also paint celestial subjects like sun and moon. The holy tulsi (basil) plant is also regularly featured in these paintings. These paintings also act as a visual record of court scenes, wedding scenes and social happenings. Intricate floral, animal and bird motifs, and symmetrical geometric designs fill up the gaps. The main categories in Madhubani paintings are traditional, monochrome, tattoo, contemporary, animals and birds. Technique: The art of Madhubani painting requires skill and implies a certain technique. This technique requires simple raw materials that are easily located in villages such as bamboo sticks and cotton. Colours: The colours are usually deep red, green, blue, black, light yellow, pink and lemon. They create the mood and hence play an important role. For instant, energy and passion find expression through the use of red and yellow. Concentration of energy and the binding force is best reflected in red while green governs the natural leaves and vegetation. For the Maithilis, each painting is an act of creation. The fame: With years, BILATERAL - CULTURE Madhubani paintings have gained tremendous popularity and have become a primary source of income for scores of families. The commercialisation of Maithili art took place in 1962 when an artist touring this village was attracted by the murals. He persuaded the women to paint in their traditional way on paper. This was a great success and a ticket to trade. Since then the painting medium has diversified. Wall paintings were transferred to handmade paper (which was of poster size) and gradually it preyed for other medium and motifs like greeting cards, dress materials, sunmica etc. Bharti Dayal, a child from the heartland of Mithila, belongs to the School of Madhubani. An artist with a heart moulded in the original tradition of Mithila Paintings, from a very young age, Smt. Dayal has invested her abundant energies to the cause of bringing back the past glory of this brilliant form of human expression. It is her ardent desire to reach this school of work across the frontiers of India. Smt. Dayal’s quest is two fold: • to assimilate the changing cultural, needs and tastes into the very essence of Madhubani paintings and • to popularize this folk form and aid the economic development of the folk artisans to keep alive the rich cultural heritage of India. Bharti Dayal’s works are essentially an amalgamation of the ancient Madhubani art form and modern times, without deviating from the core features of the Mithila tradition. ❖ YATRA | JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2011 | 11
Page 2 and 3: YATRA (The Journey) Vol. 3, Issue 1
Page 4 and 5: BILATERAL HIGH COMMISSIONER’S VIS
Page 6 and 7: BILATERAL 6 | YATRA | JANUARY - FEB
Page 8 and 9: CULTURE On the eve of Republic Day
Page 12 and 13: EXCERPTS OF PRESIDENT OF INDIA’S
Page 14 and 15: FEATURE Also coming out of the conv
Page 16 and 17: ECONOMY America, Europe, Middle Eas
Page 18 and 19: SCIENCE India uses the sun to battl
Page 20 and 21: BIOGRAPHY laws was condemning peopl
Page 22 and 23: BIOGRAPHY physical, intellectual an
Page 24 and 25: DIASPORA View of the gathering at t
Page 26 and 27: DIASPORA The Global Indian Diaspora
Page 28 and 29: CULTURE Flying high: International
Page 30 and 31: HINDI SECTION 30 | YATRA | JANUARY

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