“Painted Songs & Stories”: Tribal Indian art exhibit at Davis

The Davis Museum welcomed the very first exhibition of Pardhan Gond art in the United States this Sunday by hosting a family-oriented event with food, arts and crafts, story time and a scavenger hunt. Awaaz, Wellesley's South Asian a capella group, performed beautifully throughout the event. The event was sponsored by the college's South Asian Studies program; students from various classes such as the "Sacred Arts of South Asia" class, helped coordinate the event.

The Gond tribal peoples are forest dwellers in Central India who are known for their great storytellers. The tribe made their first appearance on the international scene in Rudyard Kipling's "Jungle Book" novels. Their art is contemporary and abstract, featuring vibrant colors, nature and a focus on animals. Each piece tells a traditional story from the area.

Most pieces have vibrant colors, but some are black and white, done with ink. The artists use a style called "ghisni"; while the ink is still wet, it is smudged and rubbed in certain directions, creating a sense of movement in the artwork.

One such ink-on-paper piece, "Rat Mai Muhkurij's Assistanted" by Suresh Singh Dhurvey, shows a fictional creature who guides people in the dark and wards off evil charms called "tona toka." The very figure itself looks like something from a dream, not comparable to any real life animal. The only figure on the paper, the creature has two legs, an elephant head without a trunk and wide open eyes. It is difficult to understand why such creature is comforting in times of peril, as it looks rather perilous itself. Nonetheless, the artist creatively and bewitchingly portrays a sense of guidance through the ink's spirit-like movements.

Every piece is a part of that artist's heritage and passion. No matter how small the painting or how vibrant the colors, the viewer feels transported into a timeless childhood dream. Covering only half the bottom floor of the museum, there were just enough paintings to sweep a viewer off her feet but not too many as to overwhelm her with every animal in the ark.

Professor Neelima Shukla-Bhatt from the South Asia Studies department helped coordinate the exhibition. She recently travelled to India with other faculty members and visited the Gond artists. As interpreter and translator, she was able to further understand their styles and motivations.

When asked what she loves about the exhibition, she responded "the fresh interpretation of old stories in the painting through colors, nature and animals." In Gond art "animals play a very active role in the creation of the universe and everything around us," said Shukla-Bhatt.

The event was very well attended, mostly by parents with younger children. Students coordinated events for the children. There was a create-your-own Gond art table, a scavenger hunt which encouraged children to look at the artwork and story time with curator John Bowels. Sohini Pillai '12 was the student coordinator of Family Day. She was inspired by a previous Family Day which featured Yanvalou. "Gond art is so accessible to children; it is the most accessible art we have here at the Davis Museum," said Pillai.

Children were fascinated with the paintings; they constantly had to be stopped by parents and security personnel from touching the paintings while pointing out different animals. Naomi Rauel, age seven from Medford, said she really enjoyed looking at the art. "I liked the singing; it was interesting because it was different," said Rauel, talking about Awaaz's performance. Rauel wore a special red and gold outfit from India to honor the event.

Thanks to all the sponsors, coordinators and especially the artists, the event was a success. Children enjoyed themselves, and parents enjoyed both the artwork and their own children's enjoyment of a new exciting art style. The artwork will be on display in Davis Museum until June 6.