Gond Paintings

India (Madhya Pradesh) | Asia

The Gond are the largest tribal community in India and can be found in Madhya Pradesh (Central India) and surrounding States. In the Gond belief system, every mountain, river, lake, tree and rock is inhabited by a spirit and therefore sacred. The Gondi Art is an expression of the day-to-day life of the tribe and was born from their belief that "seeing a good image brings good luck". Consequently, the Gond paint their walls and floors with vivid representations of the local flora and fauna, of their gods and rituals and of their relationship with nature. Through their paintings (usually colored with natural pigments derived), the Gond narrate stories and very old parables. The images of the Gond paintings are created through the union of points and lines that, in their particular genre, define the individuality of each artist. It is in the creative use of these lines and points (that when filling the drawings pass on a sensation of movement to the images) that each artist reveals its style and signature.Around 1982, Gondi Art transposed the mud walls of the tribe’s villages onto paper and canvas through talented artists such as Jangarh Singh Shyam (1962-2001), the first Gond artist to be recognized internationally. Other renowned contemporary Gond artists, such as Durga Bai, Bhaiju Shyam and Ram Singh Urveti, continue to tell the Gond's magical stories through new traditions of visual and narrative arts, creating unprecedented representations of the natural and mythical worlds of their tribe.

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