When Madhusudhana Majhi is asked to draw something lively, without any hesitation he picks some black poster paint and a H1 brush and draws a ‘marriage and dance procession’ in just 15 minutes on a car bonnet.
Majhi, who belongs to the Battada tribe from Odisha, is now in Chennai to take part in Aadi Chitra, a tribal painting exhibition at the Lalit Kala Akademi. The exhibition is on till October 21.
Years ago, tribes across the country expressed their thoughts through paintings on walls and floors. Be it the Gond tribe painting which has trees and animals as subjects, or the paintings of the Warli tribes that feature marriage ceremonies, or the Saora or the Rathwa tribe paintings, every painting had nature as its subject.
These paintings are considered to be “original”.
Majhi says, “I started to paint at the age of 18. It’s been 11 years now. We used to draw on the wall with rice powder, but would not get the proper finish. When we adapted to canvas on the guidance of TRIFED (Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited), we started using natural pigments in paintings. Still, the end product wasn’t very satisfactory and people refused to buy our paintings. This was when we started using poster colours for paintings.”
Apart from the Battada tribe, Gond, Bhil, Rathwa, Saora and Warli from Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha and Maharashtra respectively are taking part in the event.
“Each painting is unique and different. We don’t repeat the same painting. Only if you study tribal art, you can make out the difference. I sell 150 to 200 paintings annually and earn around `3 lakh. I have also received the Odisha State Award,” says Majhi.
Sheela Rani Chunkath, Additional Chief Secretary and Chairperson, Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation Limited, inaugurated the exhibition.
Speaking to City Express, Chunkath said “We are planning to exhibit these paintings in 14 showrooms across the State.”