Many Indias in one exhibition

New Delhi, Aug 25 (IANS) Different genres that represent harmony within the diverse culture of India will all come together in an upcoming art exhibition that will showcase tribal forms like Gond, Kalamkari and Madhubani.

Organised by Must Art Gallery and AK Gallerie, the week-long "Many Indias" art show will run at Visual Art Gallery from August 26 to August 31.

"Indigenous tribal artists from all over India will showcase the language of 12 different genres of folk and tribal art of the land," said curator Alka Pande.

"The theoretical underpinnings of the writings of Ramachandra Guha, Arjun Appardurai and Dipesh Chakraborty, cultural historians like Jyotindra Jain, Sirish Rao, Gita Wolf and Ayyappa Paniker led me to conceive the idea of the show," she added.

"The colourful palette with which these art works are embellished bear the roots of multiplicity in India. The art works, replete with traditional knowledge, carry the hues and finesse of ancient art which are passed from one generation to the next," the curator explained.

The exhibition will see on display forms of art like Bhil, Gond, Kalamkari, Kalighat, Rogan, Warli, Patchitra, Saura, Madhubani and Sanjhi art.

Saura Artist Manas Das said: "As a child, I was fascinated by tribal art. I painted the walls of a house which was liked by many and hence took this as a profession. These exhibitions give me a much bigger buyer base".

The show is an ode to indigenous art through which the audience sees an inner India and artists get exposure and promote their business.

"I tried hands on many occupations. A carpenter by trade, I was not able to make much money and was uncomfortable with the job hence took to painting and these exibitions for me are a good source of income," said Gond Artist Shiv Prasad Malviya.

"The indigenous art expresses a view of life which has symbiotic relationship with nature and is far removed from the structured and formal trained language. The visual representation through flora and fauna drawing ecological balance is an attempt to immortalize the beauty of nature," said Must Art Gallery founder Tulika Kedia.

The tribal works at the exhibition, using traditional techniques of tempera and gouache, make it more interesting because each of these works are simple yet ethnically rich with aesthetic sensibility and authenticity.

The audience will identify with the motifs that carry strong symbols from nature and were originally painted in vegetable dyes and natural pigments.