Poetry and proses portrayed in paints is the true connotation of the Folk art of India. Folk paintings from different states reflect the heritage and lifestyles of the rural people in the distant villages of India. Varied in styles, practices, motifs and mediums, it reflects the true essence of the rich culture of our country.
Most of the people of India are unaware of the hard work, imagination and creativity of these artists. One has to travel across the large length and breadth of this country to get glimpses of these traditional forms of art. Hence, it is a humble effort of the author to introduce different folk arts of India, in a compact book form 'Eternally Ethnic'.
Besides, this book will open a new window to the art lovers, interior designers, fashion designers and scholars of different streams to enrich their fields of study and work.
The author has completed her Graduation and Post-Graduation from the prestigious Presidency College, Kolkata and Calcutta University respectively and has done extensive research on the tribes and the tribal art of India. The author has widely traveled across the country and interacted directly with the various tribes and the tribal artists. She was inspired to write this book because of her interest in the tribal lifestyle and their art forms.
She feels fortunate to have direct contact with the eminent professionals associated with the different forms of tribal arts. Their experiences and cooperation contributed immensely to enrich the content of this book to a large extent.
The folk painting of India is traditionally a domain of rural men and women. The paintings of the village people of India are always filled with simplicity, honesty, vitality and depict their hope, aspiration, imagination and creativity. These paintings reflect the natural environment, agricultural cycles, changes of seasons and celebrations of festivals in the day to day life of the rural people.
The village men toil whole day in the paddy fields, relax and sit together in the evening, sharing notes with each other and paint their traditional art which carries the true ethos of their culture and social life. The womenfolk of the village also do their farming and household chores, sing songs on their way to the well for fetching water, talking about the day's happenings. They also paint together their beautiful folk art on their hut walls which creates a strong bonding amongst them. Some paintings such as Madhubani, Warli, and Chittara etc. are entirely the domains of the village women. The village ladies believe that the auspicious paintings will keep away evil power and invite good energy into homes. Some also believe in their mystical powers.
India is often called as the land of villages. Indian folk paintings are the paintings drawn by the village painters with their vivid and vibrant hues, enchanting themes, simple styles and artistic impressions. Each piece of the folk art is unique due to the diversity of the imagination of artists and is appreciated by the urban people though its origin is buried in rural India. These paintings can be performed on the walls (bhittichitra), on the floor (bhumichitra), on the canvas (patachitra), and the body for making tattoos (Dehchitra).' The folk artists have given this art a new dimension as they progressed with time and incorporated cultural changes in their original forms.
There were mentions of folk paintings in Indian epics since ancient times. References of 'Patachitra' (painting on clothes) and 'Chitrakars' (painters) are traced back to Kautilya's Arthashastra, Bana's Harshacharitam and Vishakhdatta's Mudrarakshasa. Chanakya used chitrakars as his espionage for they were able to penetrate the core of the society. Buddhist monks used the scroll paintings for preaching the gospel of Buddha from ancient times as they are easy to carry from one place to another. References of Yama patas, depicting sufferings in Hell are found in classic Sanskrit literature which made the people God fearing and religious. In India, it was only during 20th century, folk art was considered as a subject of study. Before that, the study of folk art was only restricted to Bengal. Gradually more and more Indian states became conscious about their own art and came out with their traditional collection of art forms for evaluation and appreciation of the common men.
Folk painting of a particular place in India is very much influenced and inspired by the history, geography and sociology of that region. The availability of natural materials from which the colours are extracted, the onset of auspicious festivals, the stories of local gods, goddesses and heroes etc., all have a great effect on the painting of that region. In Rajasthan the theme of the paintings is mainly war-like and chivalrous. The trade oriented approach of Gujarat can be seen in the market scenes of the paintings of this state. In barren Rajasthan the paintings are done with vibrant colours whereas in vivid and lively Bengal, the greenery is abundant and the colours used for the paintings are in soft and sober tones.
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