Making works of art like the Bheels is a deeply meditative process, says Saimi Sattar
The five people work in studied silence, almost meditatively as they draw neat dotted lines across the canvas. One dips a brush in the paint, another a toothpick and another a neem twig. Each is working on a different canvas — one has huge leaves emblazoned across it, the other works on an animal, still another has a tree. It is a class where people are learning the intricacies of Bheel art while the artists, themselves supervise and make suggestions. Despite the language barrier (one is an American and the other French), the artists are able to communicate their views without much difficulty.
The workshop is a part of Satrangi, an exhibition of Bheel art work by Ojas Art which features five artists and is on till September 24. Anubhav R Nath, director, Ojas Art says, “This is a part of our annual effort where we encourage traditional art. Every year we invite application and then we select two winners — one junior and one senior. And we have a tied up with Jaipur lit-fest. The winners get a cash prize and are felicitated at lit fest.” The art works also travel to JlF Boulder Colorado and they also try to pick one artist who can have a solo show.
The exhibition has about 60-70 big and small works. “The pointalism in the paintings has a strong resonance with Australian aboriginal art,” says Nath. The work is very interesting also because Bheels are one of the largest community and number about a crore. “They have one of the oldest living traditions which has been passed on from generation to generation over thousands of years,” adds Nath.
At the painting workshop, Maud, a French lady who has been staying in Delhi for the last five years says, “I am not an artist but I am interested in art. This art work needs concentration where I have to create three dotted lines in one colour. I think three has some significance,” she says.
One of the artist, lado Bai started painting when she was 12-years-old. A self-taught artist she used to get Rs 5 as a labourer. lado Bai was creating an art-work on a wall when legendary artist J Swaminathan spotted her and told her to develop it further. And that encouraged her to hone her skills. lado Bai takes one-two months to complete a really big canvas but smaller art works can be completed within two-three days.
The artists first colour the canvas with a bright background and then draw the figure directly by brush rather than a pencil. Earlier they used sticks or even datun in place of a brush. Subhash Amliyar, another artist points out, “Using a brush makes painting easy and the finishing is also better.”
Another change which has been witnessed is the use of commercial bottled colours. “Traditionally we had used coal, yellow or black clay. For green we used semal leaves. There was also geru clay and white clay as well. Earlier, there were five to six colours and we played around with them,” says Gangu Bai, Amliyar’s mother, who taught him to paint. However, in villages people still work with clay especially around Diwali and Holi.
Gangu Bai’s mother used to work with clay while she played with it. She was working at the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sanghralaya in Bhopal and told its director, Vikas Bhatt that she could paint. He encouraged her to head to the gallery and do just that.
But Gangu Bai, like the others have moved way ahead as the artists have had their fair share of exposure. They have travelled to several places including Kochi, Ernakulam and Mumbai with their artworks. The exposure has naturally helped, maybe not in terms of the content but certainly in terms of technique.
The content of the paintings mostly centres around village life and what they see around them. The dots on the paintings are inspired by the corn which is grown in their villages. “Just the way that the corn kernels are placed on a cob, the dots are drawn in the same way,” says Amliyar.
Each of the artist has a speciality. lado Bai is drawn towards religosity. Her largest canvas displays the ritual of Galbakshi which the Bheels observe when a person is unwell. The person takes seven rounds of the village, everyone has liquor, an animal is slaughtered and a priest says prayers. lo and behold, the person is cured.
Another of her paintings shows a set of 12 horse in different sizes and facing towards different directions. “It should have snakes, scorpions but this canvas had no space. This too is a religious tradition as we pray to them,” she says.
Amliyar’s biggest canvas displays the Bhagoria mela which is held in different places eight days before Holi. “During Bhagoria, if a boy and girl like each other, they elope and get married,” he explains. The art work shows people dancing, ice cream being sold, people on hand-operated swings. Amliyar has introduced a new element of a scooter in the work. In another smaller work, the elephant god Ganesh is depicted as a man ploughing field. This is called Khatrij.
Gangu Bai’s piece shows people going out on the goha (road). “Some of them are possesed by a goddess and fall on the road but nothing happens to them,” she says.
This exhibition is certainly a must-visit for lovers of art and history.