Orissa artists on a mission to save tribal art

Sep 18, 2007, 9:55 GMT

Balasore, Sep 18 (IANS) Tribal artists in Orissa are painting the walls of houses in and around Balasore town with pictures depicting the lifestyle of tribals, their culture, flora and fauna and designs. This is meant to promote and popularise ancient tribal arts and crafts among people at large.

The artists are led by Kesudas, a popular cartoonist and executive director of Baleswari Kalakendra, an organisation spearheading a movement to revive ancient arts. The painting spree has been on for the past one month.

'Tribals are considered the first artists. Earlier, tribal arts were more popular than other typical art forms. But, unfortunately, tribal arts and crafts are almost on the verge of extinction due to several reasons,' Kesudas told IANS at Balasore, 200 km from Bhubaneswar.

'We have decided to revive the forgotten art of tribals who live in our town and have forgotten their art and culture,' he added.

In the first phase, tribals artists such as Marut Rout, Partha Sarathi Mohanty, Gadadhar Mohanty, Bibhuti Das, Malay Maharna and Balu Behera have painted at least 10 houses in each tribal settlement in 31 wards of the town at their own cost.

'We have decided to cover the neighbouring areas too and also the neighbouring district of Balasore. We urge tribal artists from other districts to follow us. Tribals should not stay away from their distinct art forms,' he added.

Painting has always been very important in tribal culture and festivals.

'Among the tribals in Orissa, the Sauras have been painting since time immemorial. Later other tribes like Kandha, Munda and Santhals adopted these art forms and decorated their houses,' said Dinanath Pathi, a renowned artist.

Saura tribals are known to decorate their walls and floors with designs of flowers, birds and geometrical designs. The Santhals go for colourful designs that depict their lifestyle, Pathi said.

'Tribals always paint on nature or themes related to nature. After finishing a painting they touch it with a traditional weapon and feel the painting turns alive. They worship their paintings too,' added Partha Sarathi, another artist.

'But all these are a thing of the past. With modernity pushing tribal people to urban areas, their changed lifestyle has made their traditional art forms go into oblivion. They are hardly seen making paintings,' he added.

The tribals have appreciated the initiative by the young artists to preserve their vanishing art forms.

'Since we are living in urban areas, we have been forgetting our traditional art and culture. Apart from festivals and marriage functions, no tribal culture is followed any longer. We are happy these artists have reminded us about our past,' said Parvati Majhi.

The organisers want tribals to be aware of their art and culture and preserve it for posterity.

(Jatindra Dash can be contacted at jatindra.d@ians.in)

© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service