What is Tribal Art?
Tribal art is a form of material culture or a form of visual art of aboriginals people, it is also known as ethnographic art, and sometimes primordial art. The tribal art is so significant that it is even historically collected by museums, western anthropologists and even private collectors; tribal art can also be found at ethnographic and natural history museums.
The tribal art is often ritualistic, celebratory and saintly in nature. Tribal art originally emerged in ritual or provincial areas, tribal art refers to the subject and workmanship of antiquity from tribal cultures. This form of visual art was/is seen as a cultural product of primordial and exotic culture.
Madhu Bani Painting
The Mithila region of the state of Bihar is one of the oldest forms of art, Madhu Bani literal translation means forest of the honey . These paintings are basically religious in nature and are done by women predominantly at home in an anointed area. It is an Indian living folk art inspired from mythological epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana, the contemporary art of Mithila painting was born in early 1960s following the terrible Bihar famine.
The women of Mithila were encouraged to apply their painting with fingers, twigs, brushes and nib pens. Using Natural dyes and pigments and is characterized by eye catching geometric patterns.
The colors used in Madhu Bani paintings are usually derived from plants and other natural resources. There is ritual content for particular occasions such as marriage and other festivals.
Madhu Bani painting mostly depict the men and it’s association with natural objects like the sun, the moon and holy plants like basil is widely painted along with scenes from the royal court as social events like weddings. Madhu Bani paintings received official recognition in 1969. Sita Devi ( a well known artist of Madhu Bani paintings) received the state award by the government of Bihar and the Padma Shri in 1983.
Warli Painting of Maharashtra
Research suggests that the tribal are propagators of a tradition which originated sometime in the Neolithic period between 2500- 3000 BC , Warli art was traditionally created by the women of the tribe like Warli, Malkhar koli, Dhodi, Kokana, Kathodi tribes found on the northern outskirts of Mumbai tribal people express themselves in vivid styles through paintings which they execute and resembles prehistoric cave paintings were mainly done by the women. The paintings are beautifully executed, they usually depict scenes of human figures engaged in activities like hunting, dancing, sowing and harvesting. It originated from the temple of Jagannathan Puri in the 12th century.
Warli paintings are distinctives with their vivid contrast expressions. The painting is made on a red mud wall with white paint and this white paint is made from grounding rice into a white powder. These paintings are mainly dominated by basic geometric shapes that stand as symbols of natural elements in our environment.
For Example- The circles represent the sun and the moon, the triangle represents mountains, and the square are considered as the central motifs of the paintings. The tradition of warli painting in Maharashtra is among the finest examples of the folk style of paintings.
The warli tribe is one of the largest tribes of India located outside of Mumbai despite being close to one of the largest cities in India. These tribal rejects much of contemporary culture warli art was actually the only medium of expressions for the warli tribes before with almost no literacy there were not any written texts to transmit the folklore to future generations, they use vivid paintings on huge walls to narrate stories of the daily or social life of warli tribe.
The warli tribe is one of the largest tribes of India located outside of Mumbai despite being close to one of the largest cities in India. These tribal rejects much of contemporary culture warli art was actually the only medium of expressions for the warli tribes before with almost no literacy there were not any written texts to transmit the folklore to future generations, they use vivid paintings on huge walls to narrate stories of the daily or social life of warli tribe.
These tribal paintings do not depict any mythological legends through their paintings but they embellish their walls with beautiful pictures of daily societal behaviors of the tribal in their natural habitats such as farming, celebration of marriage, fishing and many more.
The Pattachitra Painting
It is considered as one of the oldest and most famous , an important form of oriya folk paintings the name of this painting is evolved from the Sanskrit word "Pata" means Canvas and Chitra meaning picture, this is manifested by which colorful application of creative motifs and designs and portrayal of simple themes mostly might illogical in depiction.
The Pattachitra Painting
It is considered as one of the oldest and most famous , an important form of oriya folk paintings the name of this painting is evolved from the Sanskrit word "Pata" means Canvas and Chitra meaning picture, this is manifested by which colorful application of creative motifs and designs and portrayal of simple themes mostly might illogical in depiction.
The creation of the paintings may be a disciplined art form and the artists maintain rigidity in their use of colors and patterns restricting the colors to one tone.
Pattachitra is completed on canvas and is manifested by rich and straight forward themes, mostly mythological in depiction. Some of the popular theme represented through this art form Thia Badhia- Lila- enactment of Jagannath lord Krishna displaying his power as a child; Dasabatara Patti- the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu; Panchmukhi - depiction of Lord Ganesh as a five - headed deity.
The pattachitra , when painted on cloth, follows a traditional process of preparation of the canvas. First, the base is prepared by coating the cloth with soft, white, stone powder of chalk and glue made from tamarind seeds.
It is traditional to complete the borders of the paintings first . The painter's then starts making a rough sketch directly with the brush using light red and yellow the colors used are normally white red yellow and black
When the painting is completed it is held over a charcoal fire and lacquer is applied to the surface that makes the painting water resistant and durable besides giving it a shiny finish.
Pichwai Painting
The beautiful art form is 400 years old and has its roots in Rajasthan and depicts the mythological stories of Lord Krishna. The word Pichwai itself comes from the Sanskrit words, ‘pitch’ which means back and ‘wais’ meaning hanging. It, therefore, means traditional paintings which are hanging behind the idol of Shrinathji on the walls of the temples located in Nathdwara district.
Pattachitra is completed on canvas and is manifested by rich and straight forward themes, mostly mythological in depiction. Some of the popular theme represented through this art form Thia Badhia- Lila- enactment of Jagannath lord Krishna displaying his power as a child; Dasabatara Patti- the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu; Panchmukhi - depiction of Lord Ganesh as a five - headed deity.
The pattachitra , when painted on cloth, follows a traditional process of preparation of the canvas. First, the base is prepared by coating the cloth with soft, white, stone powder of chalk and glue made from tamarind seeds.
It is traditional to complete the borders of the paintings first . The painter's then starts making a rough sketch directly with the brush using light red and yellow the colors used are normally white red yellow and black
When the painting is completed it is held over a charcoal fire and lacquer is applied to the surface that makes the painting water resistant and durable besides giving it a shiny finish.
Pichwai Painting
The beautiful art form is 400 years old and has its roots in Rajasthan and depicts the mythological stories of Lord Krishna. The word Pichwai itself comes from the Sanskrit words, ‘pitch’ which means back and ‘wais’ meaning hanging. It, therefore, means traditional paintings which are hanging behind the idol of Shrinathji on the walls of the temples located in Nathdwara district.
The paintings are made on the cloth and take a considerable amount of time, ranging from a couple of weeks to months, sometimes it is created on large canvas as well; these paintings can be largely seen on the walls of the temples.
These paintings are basically used as decorative backdrops in Shrinathji temple and Krishna temples in Rajasthan. These cloth hangings are considered very sacred and devotees offer these cloth hangings to temples and then take them back home as souvenirs.
Gond Painting
Madhya Pradesh is home to diverse form of art and culture, ancient forms of art have passed down from generations to generations and are practiced till date by artists and artisans known as the cultural hub, the Gondwanan region of Madhya Pradesh that includes places like Mandla, Balaghat, Chhindwara, Seoni produce the famous form of art called the Gond Art.
The word Gond has been derived from the Dravidian term Kond which means “the green mountain”. It is this expression which has given foundation to the art form that celebrates every form of nature, the river, the mountain, animals, forests etc. It is through these elements that artists narrate stories and express their everyday quest for life.
Gond Painting
Madhya Pradesh is home to diverse form of art and culture, ancient forms of art have passed down from generations to generations and are practiced till date by artists and artisans known as the cultural hub, the Gondwanan region of Madhya Pradesh that includes places like Mandla, Balaghat, Chhindwara, Seoni produce the famous form of art called the Gond Art.
The word Gond has been derived from the Dravidian term Kond which means “the green mountain”. It is this expression which has given foundation to the art form that celebrates every form of nature, the river, the mountain, animals, forests etc. It is through these elements that artists narrate stories and express their everyday quest for life.
The artists use natural colors like charcoal, plant sap, colored soil, cow dung and leaves. Dots and lines come together to form a piece of Gond Art, which further imparts a sense of movements to the still image. The Gond community believes that “ viewing a good image begets good luck”, it is this belief that has led the Gond's to decorate their houses and floors with traditional motifs and images, these people also believe that these paintings are a mode of protection from evil.
Written By - Vanshu Verma
Written By - Vanshu Verma
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