World of Gond art

From rural walls to the international arena, the art form is going through a revamp, writes Surekha Kadapa-Bose

They are oral stories painted on walls, passed down from generation to generation. Some are mythological and historical and others are daily stories. Vibrant, colourful and appearing to be in flowing motion — these are artworks of the Gond tribals, known better as Gond art.

These works are mainly from Madhya Pradesh and its neighbouring states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and Bihar. The art form can be traced to the 14th century, when according to historians, the first kingdom of the Gond tribe was formed.

Changing canvases, themes

Like many other tribals and adivasis, even the Gondi people would paint on mud walls or courtyards of dwellings with limestones, red clay, and plant based colours. Today they have a new backdrop — huge canvases, acrylic paints and an international audience, mainly from countries like Japan, France, Germany and USA.

Earlier, the primary theme revolved around flora, fauna, animals and rituals of the community. “I do still paint trees and animals which are the main life source of human beings but I also contemporarise my work,” says Bhopal-based Gond artist Venkat Raman Singh Shyam.

Winner of Madhya Pradesh government’s Rajya Hasta Shilp Puraskar, the 51-year-old became famous when he painted the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai after the terror attacks in 2008. Last year, he did a series of works showing the effect of the pandemic.

Journey till now

Like Venkat, other Gond artists like Mayank Shyam, Japani Shyam, Padma Shri winner Bhajju Shyam, and Rajendra Shyam have a global market for their art.

The journey of these artists from Patangarh, a small village in Dindori district, Madhya Pradesh, began when the then 17-year-old Gond, Jangarh Singh Shyam, was discovered in 1980 by modern painter Jagdish Swaminathan. The Madhya Pradesh government planned to start an art centre Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal. Today, it has become one of the most important art and museum centres in the country.

Swaminathan was entrusted with starting the section Roopankar to house a permanent collection of the best tribal art of India. When he and his team were scouting for tribal art talent, they discovered a simple drawing of lord Hanuman on the walls of a hut in Patangarh. The innocence, the clean lines of the drawing made Swaminathan invite the young artist Jangarh Shyam to Bhopal. Gond art came out of the villages to the mainstream after this. Swaminathan introduced the young Jangarh to canvas and acrylic paints. Without losing touch with his tribal roots, the gifted teenager soon learnt the new craft. His work, from being displayed on the walls of tribal huts, buffalo backs or ‘kuccha’ roads, featured in the galleries of countries like Japan, UK, Germany, France and USA.

Unknowingly, Jangarh became the pioneer of modern-day Gond art known as Jangarh Kalam or school of art. The artist’s son Mayank Shyam and daughter Japani Shyam are equally popular artists.

Mayank says, “Our late father paved the way but each of us have developed our own style without forgetting our roots.” Residing in Bhopal, Mayank, who is inspired by the Pradhan folk songs, interprets them on large canvases. His work was auctioned in the Indian Contemporary Art auction at Sotheby’s, New York.

His sister Japani Shyam, who was named so because her late father Jangarh was based in Japan at the time of her birth, says, “I haven’t yet visited Japan, France, and Germany where my works are exhibited but I do talk to buyers from there.”

Stories behind designs

Flora and fauna form the main figures in the artform. In fact, the word Gond is derived from the Dravidian word ‘kond’, which means green mountains. Gond people have stories about every tree or animal they paint.

For example: Sembar tree (Ceiba pentandra) is the abode of gods and holy spirits; Mahua tree (Madhuca longifolia) is used to make medicine, soft drink and liquor from the flowers of this tree, and the belief is that depending on how one consumes this drink the person gets transferred into a mouse, tiger, pig or a pigeon.

Design: Then vs now

Gond style of painting uses carefully drawn lines to convey a sense of movement in still images and adding dots and dashes in different colours to get the form. Today, the style has moved from painting on mudwalls to canvas and from charcoal, mud and vegetable colours, they now use acrylic.

Most of them still use the traditional motifs but they also contemporarise the designs. The old motifs never showed human forms, now artists paint faces but in an adivasi style.

Trends in global, Indian markets

Buyers are happy with the traditional old designs. Contemporary depictions like car, airplane, trains, modern buildings or newsy subjects like Covid-19, and terrorism are accepted as well if the essence of the tribal art is intact.

Who are the Gondi people?

They are mainly farmers. Earlier, they regularly collected fruits, roots and corn from the forests close to their villages. They engage in fishing and hunting. But currently, with depleting forests, they are seen in construction companies and many white- collared jobs. According to the last census, their population is nearly 12 million.