By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 9 Jun: A seven day unique National Tribal Artists’ Camp added extraordinary colour and expressed concern for Mother Earth through paintings created by world renowned tribal artists in Doon’s Tribal school – ITITI.
Vice Admiral HC Bisht (Retd), Anita Rawat, Registrar, Uttarakhand Technical University, and many other stalwarts from the state’s art world participated in the valedictory session on 7 June. Tribute was paid to the former state Finance Minister Prakash Pant on the occasion.
The camp was organised by Lalit Kala Akademi and ITITI, jointly, with special support from Uttam Pacharne, Chairman of the Akademi.
This unique National Artists Camp was held from 1 to 7 June. The participants were internationally renowned tribal artists like Venkat Shyam Singh – Gond style, Hiraman Urvati, Sunil Kharpade and Kishor Sadashiv Mhase- Warli art masters, Subir Rayal – Kalamkari style, Raj Kumar Deena, Dayanithi M, and D Deendayalan from Karnataka and Tamilnadu, Satish Kujur from Jharkhand – Sohrai style. ( The wall paintings of Jharkhand are traditionally known as Sohrai, one of the oldest art forms of wall painting that tribal art has … and styles once used to create rock art in the region ). Avinash Karn came from Bihar, a renowned master in Madhubani style of art. He created an amalgamation of the old Madhubani and modern theme of a father with his children flying balloons.
The interesting part was the fusion of modern realist art by Uttarakhand’s famous artists like Monica Talukdar (82) and Anjali Thapa, who brought their own canvasses and created marvelous Garhwal and ‘Mother Nature’ (like Gaura Devi’s Chipko) paintings.
Warli artist Mhase said that he paints for nature’s balance with all creation as human greed is eating away the vitals of the elements that sustain Mother Earth – his paintings depict Honey Bees going to “Pavas Dev” (God of the rains) and bringing back the clouds of rain as humans had been failing to please him. Similarly, Venkat Shyam Singh’s paintings show how urban city dwellers cut all trees, make rivers and canals vanish and live a fake, artificial luxurious life which, in the end, is suffocating and anti- environment.
Local artists joined the camp in large number. Sadhna Jairaj, an artist who had been painting birds and wild life so far learnt to draw Warli lines beautifully and Vandana Bisht Vijay began her journey into the realm of art and had a tryst with a brush for the first time with help from Tribal artists. It was a great fun, a week of learning. As Monica Talukdar said, “We have to learn from these pure hearted Adivasi artists who have earth and animals and birds balancing their lives with humans in a way that helps grow enough food to fulfill the needs, but the modern urban man destroys this beautiful balance with his insatiable greed.
Tarun Vijay, former MP and a passionate art promoter, was the person who made this camp possible. Lalit Kala Akademi’s Himanshu Dabral and Nawal Kishor Sharma came from Delhi as Convenors and Uttarakhand’s Culture Department’s Director Beena Bhatt provided local support. The paintings by these tribal artists will be showcased in the Uttarakhand Art Gallery at the clock tower MDDA complex from 9 to 16 June.
