The dimly-lit white walls of the India Habitat Centre’s Visual Arts Gallery came to life with vibrant tribal paintings framed and hung on them. On display here was Modern Tribal—a three-day exhibition that concluded on Thursday—organised by the Craft and Community Development Foundation (CCDF). This exhibition showcased select paintings that are part of the Gondwana Art Project undertaken by CCDF, which focusses on promoting the work of tribal artisans from the Gondwana Region whose styles include Gond, Bhil, Warli, Sohrai and Khovar art.
Modern Tribal was an exhibition true to its name—it blended both tribal art with contemporary ideas. Sundeep Bhandari, founder of CCDF, explained, “The purpose of this project is to try and get tribal artisans to evolve and make art for a global audience, not just limited to people in India.”
The paintings exhibited here are a result of collaboration between artists and designers. At times, artists were given instructions to work on, which ranged from everything between contemporary and traditional ideas. These works used an array of hues; some were in vibrant yellow and blue while others in muted shades and pastels.
Myriad inspiration
Each piece at this exhibition was centred on life experiences of these artists.One of the central walls of the gallery was adorned by Banyan Tree, a monochromatic painting of a banyan tree featuring golden leaves. While at the gallery on the second day, we noticed a visitor looking intently at this painting, finally exclaiming to those with her that the tree depicts life, whereas the leaves showcase hope.
When we asked Warli artist Rajesh Mor about his inspiration, his response was simple: “We are forest dwellers. This is the biggest here. I’ve seen the tree and its branches, and I painted what I saw.” Beauty, like they say, is in the eyes of the beholder.
Another eye-catching piece was that of a large tiger sculpture made of fibreglass. Crafted by Gond artist Kishen Uikey, this installation featured vibrant patterns in yellow and orange filled with flora and fauna motifs. This sculpture is part of The Gond Tiger Project—a prototype for the Tiger Parade, which is similar to the Elephant Parade, an open-air exhibition held in London in 2010. The artists participating in this Project have been mentored by designer Anmol Yadav. This also reflects the main idea behind the Modern Tribal exhibition, which was to provide a platform to indigenous artists of India all while upskilling them and introducing them to newer concepts so as to keep their traditional art thriving.