Jivya Soma Mashe

TRIBU WARLI, THANE DISTRICT, MAHARASHTRA, INDE.

In India, people from the tribal communities are called « adivasi », which means « first 
people ». Yet we know almost nothing of Indian tribal art. For nearly two thousand years, the prolific flowering of sacred, Buddhist, Jain, Hindu and Muslim arts almost entirely eclipsed tribal art in the sub-continent. The art of the Naga people is one of the few surviving testimonies. The sculptures, finery and architecture of this tribe of former head-hunters, converted to Christianity in the 1950s, rival with the finest pieces of tribal art from Africa and Oceania. Other examples have been uncovered by outstanding ethnological research, notably work done by Elwin Verrier in the 1930s on the Gond tribe in the central Indian state of Madya Pradesh. Unfortunately, very few ancient pieces have been kept and so there is little chance of seeing them. Luckily, thanks to the efforts of the Indian government and occasional help from enlightened art lovers, India¹s tribal art has not completely vanished.

In the 1970s, aware that this part of its artistic heritage was steadily disappearing, the Indian government provided aid for its various ethnic communities. Government agents supplied paper and canvas so artists could make a lasting record of traditionally ephemeral ritual arts. The new media were easy to transport and display and helped make these forms of ancestral art known outside their traditional geographical areas. The paintings and drawings are exhibited and sold in state stores, bringing in extra income for these often destitute communities. Although they were mainly intended for the tourist trade, a number of works caught the eye (next page)