When we see any painting- we get attracted to its style, colours, medium, illustration, the painter’s uniqueness and the beauty. The beauty of any painting comes with a story behind the art form. It is the meaning that the artist conveys to its onlooker.
“IN EVERY WORK OF ART THE ARTIST HIMSELF IS PRESENT” – Christein Morgenstren.
The saying implies- with every piece of art that the artist comes up is a piece of his ownself and his surrounding.
Indian tribal art, which comes from the tribes of India, is often looked down upon by the educated class of the society, despite of its artistic and culturally rich influence embedded in each art-form. These art forms are very functional and utilitarian with high socio-religious significance. One such famous art form is WARLI PAINTING from the borders of Maharashtra and Gujarat.
WARLI painting are widely seen on upholstery, fabrics and wallpapers but due to the contemporisation of the art- the true significance is lost. As the name signifies the painting comes from the Warli tribe. The exclusivity of the art form is that it is made of a mixture of rice and natural glue. The tribe decorates their houses by painting the art forms on their cowdung-clad walls of their houses.
The art form was very much restricted to its community level but with growing popularity, some tribal took it as a hobby and supported their livelihood. The paintings draw inspiration from daily life of the tribes.
The simplicity of these paintings is appealing and the style is pleasing enough to inspire any advanced form of Indian modern art.
“ART IS NOT WHAT YOU SEE BUT WHAT YOU MAKE OTHERS SEE” – Edger Degas
Hence, the depictions of these simple paintings have become an inspiration to many artists all over the world.
Warli painting is in its own a way of life. The simplicity is highly inspiring to understand the art we went to meet warli artists from Maharashtra who have taken up warli painting as a proffesion and have been avid painters, exhibiting their work through various exhibitions around india.
We went to Vangaon which is a small village in the interiors of dahanu. It is completely disconnected with the hustle and the bustle of the city life with a handful of people living simple life.
We met mr. Sanjay Parhad who is a warli artist belonging to the tribe. He gave us an insight into their lifestyle and most importantly Warli art. It was inspiring to see his lifestyle, which was simple yet productive. He lived in a hut made up of clay and bricks, with a simple lifestyle and great talent and inspiration.
We were lucky to meet mr. Jivya Soma Mashe who is a padma shri award winner and has inspired many painters to take Warli painting as a profession and to hone their skills. Jivya ji is a simple man who has been painting for years and you will see in the video how beautifully paint even at his old age. He lives with his family and has visited exhibtions around the world on invitation. This is something that in today’s world even a highly educated person wishes to achieve but fails. He has such an immense respect world over but for his fellow villagers he is just their friend a simple tribal living a simple lifestyle. We live in a world where branded clothes are given more importance than the person wearing it , Jivyaji helps us to remain down to earth and respect our values and traditions.
we would be very thankful to Jivaji, his son and Sanjay Parhad for letting us experience the simplicity that is portrayed through these beautiful paintings.
credits:
director and editor: Vivek Vishwanathan
cinematography: Sanika Sule and Vivek Vishwanathan
music director and voiceover: Arundhati Deshmukh
sound designer : Sashvat Suresh
research and concept : Ishita Makwana
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