Folk art is associated with the forgotten art of storytelling. First discovered in the early seventies, Warli art is named after the largest tribe on the outskirts of Mumbai, the Warli tribe. While there are no records of the origin, it is believed to date back to the 10th century A.D. For Warlis, life is an eternal circle. "Death is not an end but a new beginning". Inspired by their lifestyle, their core belief revolves around nature and spirits. It is not only an expression of their innermost urges but also as a way to understand, interact, and live harmoniously with nature.
These ritualistic paintings are usually drawn on the inside of the mud huts where the walls are made of branches, earth, red brick that result in a red ochre background for the paintings. For these paintings, a white pigment is prepared using rice, water, and gum as a binder. Bamboo sticks are chewed at one end to give it the texture of a paintbrush. At the basic level, the paintings use a simple vocabulary- a circle, a triangle, and a square. The circle depicts the sun and the moon. The triangle is derived from mountains and trees. The square indicates a sacred enclosure, the square, the “chauk”; for the mother goddess, symbolizing fertility. The theme of Warli painting is not mythological but rather activities of daily life like hunting, harvesting, dancing, sowing.
This ritual art took a coeval turn when Jivya Mashe and his son Balu Mashe started to paint in this style. Since then Jivya is known as the father of modern Warli painting. Mashe was awarded the Padma Shri in 2011 for making the art form popular in international circuits. They painted from an artistic perspective and not a cultural or traditional one. Today in the ephemeral digital age, it’s hard to find a work of art that stays in our collective consciousness for decades. Warli artists have traditionally not used a straight line but a series of dots and dashes of red and yellow. Modern artists have now begun to draw straight lines in their Warli paintings. Artists use modern elements such as bicycle, car, building, and train apart from traditional motifs. Warlis are now shifting to paper and cloth paintings. Warli paintings on paper have become very popular and are now sold all over India & abroad. From walls and floor, the Warli art has graduated to paper and canvas to cater to the market for decorative art, which is highly commercialized.
Warli Art is now registered with a geographical indication as intellectual property and the status of proprietor is granted to NGO Ayush which is working for welfare of Warli tribe. Efforts are also being made to strengthen the sustainable economy of the Warli tribe with social entrepreneurship efforts. In February 2016, a group of Japanese artists adopted the Ganjad village in Palghar district in an effort to keep the art form alive. This group of social artists from Japan have also been constructing huts from cow dung, mud, and bamboo stick to promote painting on the walls.
While they still adhere to tradition – acceptance of new ideas helps them face new challenges to meet market demands. Artists are now painting on paper and cloth. Warli motifs are also finding expression on pottery, and on lifestyle products including home décor and accessories.
Comments