Folk Art

Madhubani art is a style of painting practiced in the Mithila region of India and Nepal. It is named after the Madhubani district of Bihar, India, which is where it originated. Artists create these paintings using a variety of mediums, including their own fingers, or twigs, brushes, nib-pens, and matchsticks. The paint is created using natural dyes and pigments. The paintings are characterised by their eye-catching geometrical patterns. There is ritual content for particular occasions, such as birth or marriage, and festivals, such as Holi, Surya Shasti, Kali Puja, Upanayana, and Durga Puja. According to legend, Madhubani paintings were first created at Mithila, the birthplace of Hindu goddess Sita. When Sita and her husband Prince Rama were to be married, King Janak, father to Sita, asked for paintings to capture moments of the marriage. Madhubani painting (or Mithila painting) was traditionally created by the women of various communities in the Mithila region of the Indian subcontinents. It originated from Madhubani district of the Mithila region of Bihar. Madhubani is also a major export center of these paintings.

A mandala is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for establishing a sacred space and as an aid to meditation and trance induction. In the Eastern religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Shinto it is used as a map representing deities, or especially in the case of Shinto, paradises, kami or actual shrines. A mandala generally represents the spiritual journey, starting from outside to the inner core, through layers.

Warli painting is of tribal art mostly created by the tribal people from the North Sahyadri Range in Maharashtra, India. This range encompasses cities such as Dahanu, Talasari, Jawhar, Palghar, Mokhada, and Vikramgad of Palghar district. This tribal art was originated in Maharashtra, where it is still practiced today. The Warli tribe is one of the largest in India, located outside Mumbai. Till the 1970s, even though the tribal style of art is thought to date back as early as 10th century A.D. The Warli culture is centered on the concept of Mother Nature and elements of nature are often focal points depicted in Warli painting. Farming is their main way of life and a large source of food for the tribe. They greatly respect nature and wildlife for the resources that they provide for life. Warli artists use their clay huts as the backdrop for their paintings, similar to how ancient people used cave walls as their canvases. Jivya Soma Mashe, the artist in Thane district has played a great role in making the Warli paintings more popular.

Lippan art is a traditional mural craft of Kutch, Gujarat, India. Lippan or mud-washing using materials locally available in the region like mixture of clay and camel dung keeps the interiors of the houses cool. Though the work is limited mainly to the interior walls, it can be found on the outer walls as well. These scintillating murals bring life, gaiety, and beauty to generally harsh life of people of Kutch. Mud and Mirror Work is mainly done by the women of the Rabari community. This art form has a hoary past as no records are available to trace its origin. Various communities in Kutch do mud-washing in their own distinct style. Mud mirror work gathered attention of the modern world for its intricate pattern and aesthetic perfection and has made a full transition from its unknown modest stature to the mainstream art world, decorating the walls of rural homes.

The Gonds are said to be the largest tribal, or Adivasi Community in India, with a population of nearly 8 million. Belonging largely to Deccan India, the Gond community has settled in regions spanning across northern Andhra Pradesh, eastern Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and western Orissa. Deeply connected with nature and natural elements, Gonds have traditionally drawn inspiration, as well as, represented their stories using strong natural elements. Trees, animals, birds and other environmental representation are probably the most recognisable subject matter in their visual art practice. The Gonds are popularly known for their creative capacities. Gond paintings are known for their rich detail, bright colours, embedded mystery and a taste of humour. One of the most noticeable and easily recognizable features of Gond painting is the line and dot technique used to create entire paintings. These lines and dots impart a sense of dynamism and movement on the canvas, immediately capturing the attention of its viewers. Gond paintings remain till date one of the most historically entrenched and yet contemporary Indian visual art traditions.

The word Pichwai means ‘hanging at the back‘ and is derived from the Sanskrit words ‘Pich’ which means back and ‘Wai’ means hanging. Pichwai paintings are large devotional Hindu painted pictures, normally on cloth, which portray Krishna. They are mainly made to hang in Hindu temples of the Pushtimarg devotional tradition, especially the Shrinathji Temple in Nathdwara, Rajasthan, built around 1672. They are hung behind the idol of Shrinathji, a local form of Krishna and the centre of Pushtimarg worship, to depict his leelas.