These extremely rudimentary wall paintings use a very basic graphic vocabulary: a circle, a triangle and a square. The circle and triangle come from their observation of nature, the circle representing the sun and the moon, the triangle derived from mountains and pointed trees. Only the square seems to obey a different logic and seems to be a human invention, indicating a sacred enclosure or a piece of land. Human and animal bodies are represented by two triangles joined at the tip; the upper triangle depicts the trunk and the lower triangle the pelvis. Their precarious equilibrium symbolizes the balance of the universe, and of the couple. These tribal art startle visually without the prop of color and with a remarkable economy of detail.
The Gonds and Bhils are two major tribal communities of Central India, The Bhil tribe is largely found in the western parts of state of Madhya Pradesh, and in Gujarat.The Gond tribe inhabits parts of Madhya Pradesh ,Chattisgarh ,Andra Pradesh and parts of Maharashtra. These regions are rich in cultural heritage and have distinct arts and crafts that need to be showcased… I have been working with the various tribes from Madhya Pradesh to promote them nationally and internationally.
Monday, September 2, 2019
The Legacy Project
Seagrams Hundred Pipers
In July 2019, I was approached by Ogilvy and Mather to coordinate for packaging designs for Hundred Piper Whisky bottles and canisters.’ The Legacy Project’ is a venture of the Seagrams 100 Pipers to salvage and promote Bhil painting dying traditional art forms of India. The philosophy behind this project is ” Be remembered for good”.The project aims to promote various artists thus giving them an international platform they deserve. It was an interesting project as it involved working on promoting dying art forms of India. It allowed me to work with the artists and art forms that were barely known in our country. We were to collaborate with artists from north, south, east, west and centre of India. The challenge was the timeline. To have 12 designs of 12 different art forms in 3 weeks was a herculean task. We finally mutually decided to conduct a seven-day workshop in Bhopal and invite the artists to create their designs during the workshop. We invited about 10 artists from different regions of India. Artists from Bengal (kalighat, Patua), Orissa(patachitra), Andhra(Cheriyal)Himachal (Kangra), Rajasthan(Pichwai), Gujarat(Mata ni Pachedi), Madhya Pradesh(Bhil, Gond, Mandana).Six of the art forms were finalised for the packaging designs. The depictions of each artwork were the interpretation of the philosophy “Be Remembered for Good”by each artist. The finalist whose designs were to be on the packaging was
tribalartindia 