“The Soil and the Mountain co-exist,

The Wave and the ocean co-exist,

The seed and the tree co-exist,

The village and the city co-exist &

Everything co-exists”

-An Exhibition of Warli Paintings from Talasari, Palghar Dt. Maharashtra-

Sarjan Art Gallery, Alkapuri, Vadodatra

Warli Art is an internationally recognized and much-acclaimed indigenous people's art form. The name comes from the Warli tribes who have been practising this art for centuries. They live in the Palghar district of Maharashtra. Traditionally, Warli painting was done on the mud wall by the women as part of the marriage ritual. But five decades ago, these paintings were transferred into canvas and exhibited in the gallery for the first time. The instant popularity inspired both men and women in the Warli community to master their art and the new audience and material necessitated them to invent new motifs and subject matter.

There is a widespread tendency to relegate vernacular art to craft and design whereby individuality, innovation and creativity of the artists are not recognized, acknowledged and brought into the foreground. The vernacular artists in India by and large spend a great deal of time and money to participate in the handicraft exhibitions held in major cities and towns in India to showcase and market their works. The price they get for their artwork is nominal.

Taking into consideration the above issues in the context of vernacular art, curatorial activity culminating in the exhibition is one of the effective ways of showcasing the new developments that are taking place in vernacular art in various regions across India. It is in this context, Sarjan Art Gallery under the leadership of Mr Hitesh Rana in collaboration with Tarpart has taken a bold initiative to organize an exhibition of Warli paintings along with a workshop for those who want to have a first-hand experience of this art form.Exhibitions also will bring the much-needed visibility of the ‘invisible artist’. It will also be a platform to market their works.

This exhibition brings together not only some of the important subjects matters traditionally dealt with by the Warli artists but also improvised in its form, material and composition. Warli visual tradition has invented some of the most fabulous ways of delineating trees; it is in this context, the participating artists are constantly improvising their tradition and developing new ways of representing trees. Trees therefore in their paintings occupy predominant space and take the central stage. All activities happen under the tree. Trees become a habitat for all living creatures including human beings. Within the world view of the Warli art form, the human being occupies a peripheral space; s/he is one among the living creatures.

Another common thread which is found in Warli paintings is certain aesthetics created in the depiction of Warli’s sustainable practices. The activities depicted are mundane day-to-day activities. Yet, they are not insignificant altogether. Juxtaposed against urban activities as done by Reena in her painting The Village and the City, the mundane activities stand out with their inherent values of sustainability.

The sustainable practices of the Warlis, therefore, continue to be the hallmarks of the Warli paintings. They also become the reservoir of readily available subject matters and motifs. The sustainable practices of indigenous people in the past have often been named as primitive; but in the context of acute environmental crisis, climate change, food insecurity and consumerism they become more relevant today than ever. It is in this context, artists under the purview of this exhibition are constantly searching for new ways of making Warli art.

On behalf of the Warli artists, I would like to thank Mr. Hitesh Rana and team for their encouraging support to exhibit and promote Warli art and artists. In the context of widespread appropriation and exploitation, this exhibition will go a long way by giving a platform for exhibiting the authentic Warli art from Maharashtra.

Jothi Xavier

Sarjan Art Gallery

01.05.2023