HYDERABAD: A 22-year-old A Motiram, an aspiring artist pursuing his BEd from Adilabad district, is elated these days. And he has all the reasons for it as the youngster is one among the ten artists selected by the Department of Tribal Welfare, to be part of a six-day workshop that concluded Saturday, and display their way of life — which very few people are aware of — through paintings. Motiram can, with a simple pen and paper, display the traditions of his tribe: Gonds.
The art pieces showcase men in dhotis, along with pagdis, and women, whose sarees are also in the form of dhotis, but with a pallu. Then there are motifs, patterns borrowed from their rangoli designs, which is particular to the tribe and can be spotted during their weddings, which is also a special culture limited to only a few tribes in Telangana. The objective of the department is to revive the culture of Gonds, through paintings and display them in the tribal museums.
Soon, similar workshop would be held with 10 other identified tribes. “We all have a touch of art within us and we are glad to be part of this workshop as it is helping us understand how we can project ourselves to the art fraternity,” said Motiram. The department has decided to take this up as part of its research and training programme in the wake of the State government deciding to open tribal museums across Telangana. “There is little to showcase in these museums and this exercise is to fill that gap,” informed Dyvanapalli Satyanarayana, curator of the Tribal Museum at the department.
Not much for display at Tribal museums
About Rs 25 crore has been sanctioned to set up the Komaram Bheem museum and memorial in Adilabad, in memory of the Gond tribal leader. However, there is not much to put on display. In Medaram, the authorities plan to set up the Sammakka-Sarakkala Museum. “We experimented with various aspects during the workshop, where the artists were encouraged to paint anything from their daily life. Then, we picked on certain themes and the idea was to highlight the traditional motifs, borders and themes surrounding their life and culture,” added Satyanarayana.
In the days to come, the same exercise will be taken up with the tribal groups - Kolams, Thoti, Pardan, Koya and Kondareddi, Chenchu, Nayakpod, Erukula and Lambadi - and their art will be on display by the end of the year. While the department is facilitating this, the proceeds from the sale of paintings will go to the artists. There are expected to be 200 such artists by the end of the year. During the workshop, professors from the Jawaharlal Nerhu Fine Arts University (JNFAU) were present to oversee the work.