Gond are the days...

Some of the most prolific contemporary Gond artists are showing their works at a new show in the capital

Far but not very far away from the cacophony of city traffic and the crammed concrete jungle exists a tribe of artists, trying hard to preserve the collective memory of its distinctive culture. It is this urge for survival which brings Jangarh Kalam: Contemporary Art of the Adivasis, an ongoing art exhibition by four artists of the Pradhaan community of the Gond people of central India to our doorsteps.


Mayank Shyam's Primal Spider uses acrylic, pen and ink on paper

From guru to shishya
The Pradhaans, who were the musicians and carriers of the community's oral tradition, had to give up their traditional roles as the Gond community had to resort to manual labour and odd jobs for survival. But it was artists like J. Swaminathan who rescued Jangarh Singh Shyam, a 21-year-old youth from the community and trained him to be a muralist, transforming him into one of the most formidable artistic names of the populace.

Ram Singh Urveti, Bhajju Shyam and Mayank Shyam, three of the four artists who are showcasing their works are students of Shyam. It is a legacy they earnestly intend to take forward.

Different shades of a same rainbow
The fourth artist Durga Bai can be best described as a storyteller who plays with colours. Hailing from Madhya Pradesh, she is the perfect vanguard of traditional art for the 'modern' world. Through her works like Maharlin Mata (protector against ghouls), Khero Mata (protector against evil), Chula Devi (goddess of the hearth) and Budi Mai ( mother of harvest), she sings interesting hymns of lesser-known Gond goddesses.

The other three, regardless of Jangarh's obvious influence on their works, have always suggested individual expressions. Bhajju Shyam has a distinctive fondness for the crow, Radha and Krishna's tales and the flute. Urveti's (Janagarh was his wife's uncle) first love has been trees, which keep appearing in one form or the other in his works.

Shyam is Janagarh's son and the youngest of them all. And having been born in the modern age, he has been influenced by cityscapes, usually not found in the works of others. Also, his use of the colour black has become almost like his signature style, and sets him apart from the others who indulge in more vibrant colours. One of his works titled The Primal Spider, a pen and ink creation on paper yet again proves his fondness for using the 'attention grabbing' colour.

An honour long due
Recently Jangarh Singh's works sat on the same platform with works of modernists like MF Husain. And for the first time in history an Indian folk artist's work was valued at between Rs 14 to 23 lakhs.

Call it a coup or an honour long due, it's definitely a happy news for the art world. The next however is to bring forward artists like Durga Bai who has kept all the stories she heard from her grandmother alive through her art works.

At:u00a0Art Alive Gallery, S-221 Panchsheel Park
Timings:u00a0 11am to 7pm (Sundays closed)
Ring: 41639000/41638050