Warli art

Warli
Warli painting is a style of tribal art mostly created by the Adivasis from the North Sahyadri Range in India. This range encompasses cities such as Dahanu, Talasari, Jawhar, Palghar, Mokhada, and Vikramgadh of Palghar district. This tribal art originated from Maharashtra, where it is still practiced today.The Warli tribe is one of the largest in India, located right outside of Mumbai. Despite being close to one of the largest cities in India, the Warli reject much of contemporary culture. The style of Warli painting was not discovered until the 1970s, even though the tribal style of art is thought to date back as early as 10th century A.D.  The Warli culture is centered around the concept of Mother Nature and elements of nature are often focal points depicted in Warli painting. Farming is their main way of life and a large source of food for the tribe. They greatly respect nature and wildlife for the resources that they provide for life.  Warli used the clay huts as the backdrop for their paintings, similar to how ancient people used caves as their canvases.

The art of Warli painting

Male gods are unusual among the Warli and are frequently related to spirits, which have taken human shape. The central motif in the ritual painting is surrounded by scenes portraying hunting, fishing, and farming, as well as trees and animals. Festivals and dances are common scenes depicted in the ritual paintings. Human and animal bodies are represented by two inverse triangles joined at their tips. The upper triangle depicts the torso and the lower triangle the pelvis. Their precarious equilibrium symbolizes the balance of the universe. The representation also has the practical and amusing advantage of animating the bodies. Another main theme of Warli art is the denotation of a triangle that is larger at the top, representing a "man"; and a triangle which is wider at the bottom, representing a "woman." Apart from ritualistic paintings, other Warli paintings covered day-to-day activities of the village people.These rudimentary wall paintings use a set of basic geometric shapes: a circle, a triangle, and a square. These shapes are symbolic of different elements of nature. The circle and the triangle come from their observation of nature. The circle represents the sun and the moon, while the triangle is derived from mountains and pointed trees. In contrast, the square appears to be a human invention, indicating a sacred enclosure or a piece of land. The central motif in each ritual painting is the square, known as the "chalk" or "Shaukat," mostly of two types known as Devchauk and Lagnachauk. Inside a Devchauk is usually Palaghata, the mother goddess, symbolizing fertility.^[3]

One of the central aspects of many Warli paintings is the "Tarpa Dance." The Tarpa, a trumpet-like instrument, is played in turns by different village men. Men and women entwine their hands and move in a circle around the Tarpa player. The dancers then follow him, turning and moving as he turns, never turning their backs to the Tarpa. The musician plays two different notes, which direct the head dancer to either move clockwise or counterclockwise. The Tarpa player assumes a role similar to that of a snake charmer, and the dancers become the figurative snake. The dancers take a long turn in the audience and try to encircle them for entertainment. The circle formation of the dancers is also said to resemble the circle of life.

Warli painting materials

The pared down pictorial language of Warli painting is matched by a rudimentary technique. The ritual paintings are usually done inside the huts of the village. The walls are made of a mixture of branches, earth, and cow dung that make a red ochre background for the wall paintings. The Warli only use white to create their paintings. White pigment is made from a mixture of rice paste and water, with gum as a binder. They use a bamboo stick chewed at the end to give it the texture of a paintbrush. Walls are painted only for special occasions such as weddings or harvests.

Not just art

Warli art to some extent makes us think of being environmentally conscious and finding joy in simple things of life. The Warli people lead fairly simple lives. Earlier, they worshipped nature and depended on nature for food and everyday living. They did not believe in disrupting nature or taking more than they needed. The Warli people believe in harmony between nature and man, and these beliefs are often reflected in their paintings.

This train of thought also holds true for our lives today. A lot of urban folk are now adopting a minimalist lifestyle by staying away from technology whenever possible, eating clean, embracing handloom and taking a closer look at science behind ancient customs and traditions. So, it isn’t much of a surprise that traditional art forms like Warli are making their way back into our society to remind us of the simple pleasures of life.

The tribes have also used Warli paintings to impart knowledge. Today, it stands tall among other forms of painting with Maharashtrian artists like Jivya Mashe and his sons Balu and Sadashiv striving hard to keep the art form alive. In fact, Mashe was awarded the Padma Shri in 2011 for making the art form popular in international circuits.