An exhibition of tribal paintings and handicrafts of 40 tribal artists from various parts of the country will be held at the Lalit Kala Akademi.
The event organised by the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) will feature Gond, Bhil, Saura, Warli and Pithora paintings.
“The paintings of tribal artists from various tribes in the country have been put together at the ‘Aadi-Chithra’ exhibition.
The highlight of the exhibition is that no two products at the event will be same. For the exhibition, the tribal artists have been encouraged to depict the paintings that they once put together on the walls of their houses or handicrafts, on the canvas frames, textiles,” said V Ramanathan, Regional Manager.
About 500- 700 painting will be on display at the exhibition. They are on themes ranging from gods and goddesses to birds and animals, five basic elements of nature, life cycles from birth to death.
Some of the paintings have also come to depict modern day aspects, for instance one Warli Painting with its triangular stick figures and concentric circles depict a railway station full of the hullabaloo on the platform, the snack vendors, the loco-pilot, passengers running up the over-bridges.
The paintings belong to the tribes from Maharashtra, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh. Apart from the paintings, the event will also feature handicrafts including, tribal pottery, tribal jewellery from the North-East, cane and bamboo handicrafts, silver sculptures, coffee mugs with tribal theme depictions.
“A number of innovative paintings have come up at the exhibition. For these tribal people, paintings are a way of life. That purity and creativity is reflected in their works,” said V V Ramani, Coordinator of the exhibition.