The Warli style of painting is very old, though we often don’t take in account its rich history when we adorn our walls, and by extension, our lives, with it. Unlike some art forms, the style actually comes from tribals, from the ‘Varli’ tribe. This tribe has settled, and till date, flourishes in the coastal belts of Maharashtra and Gujarat. About 1200 years old, the style still retains its immense popularity today.
The style was, until the seventies, exclusively practiced by the women of the tribe, and they treasured this art form. Until then, most artists or researchers didn’t know the depth or the simplicity such an art form carried. The name itself, ‘Varli’, comes from the word ‘Varla’, which originally means land. The Warli tribals were originally hunters and gatherers, but soon turned their attention to agriculture as a more stable source of income, and thus occupied large tracts of land; therefore, ‘Warli’.
The art, however, emerged earlier, as mentioned before. Earliest traces can be found at around 10th century AD. The style itself, however, suggests a dating back to much earlier art styles, judging from a much more simplified structure, which resonates with early cave paintings. It is, essentially, a history that the Warli style accentuates, resonates and remembers.
The style is unique, in the way that it is elegantly simple. The paintings are traditionally done on red mud painted walls, with a mixture of rice and water, and the tools used for work are twigs found on the ground. The forms the paintings strictly use are the most basic geometric shapes: circles, triangles and lines. Every single element in their work is created from these three forms.
The simplicity of the style belies the utter complexity of what it portrays. Unlike most other art forms in India, the style does not involve a heavy background of religious motifs or symbols; instead, it conspicuously interweaves elements from the Warli everyday lifestyle. One of their most recurring figures is the image of a circle of dancers dancing around a centrally placed musician, which signifies the heightened sense of community the Warlis have, in everything they do.
One of the most important, and recurring, symbols the Warlis use is the Tree of Life, which is essentially a tree that connects all of flora and fauna, of course including man as well. The tree represents the gigantic community the tribals believe they are a part of, without thinking that they are above any other species. It is a symbol for the oneness the Warlis feel with nature, their one God.
The major problem that the Warli tribe faces today is, essentially, an over popularisation of culture, which leads to an excess of frauds that sell their work only because they have copied it off an original. The Warlis are therefore severely disadvantaged, because the creative margin they have created is taken over by ‘artists’ who sell work in their names; the result, of course, being that the Warlis are being aggressively pushed out of their own artistic space. We, thus, try to help them by retaining the authenticity of such artists, and supporting genuine Warli artists only.
Chronicling Daily Life through Art: The Warli Style of Maharashtra
The Warli style of painting is very old, though we often don’t take in account its rich history when we adorn our walls, and by extension, our lives, with it. Unlike some art forms, the style actually comes from tribals, from the ‘Varli’ tribe. This tribe has settled, and till date, flourishes in the coastal belts of Maharashtra and Gujarat. About 1200 years old, the style still retains its immense popularity today.
The style was, until the seventies, exclusively practiced by the women of the tribe, and they treasured this art form. Until then, most artists or researchers didn’t know the depth or the simplicity such an art form carried. The name itself, ‘Varli’, comes from the word ‘Varla’, which originally means land. The Warli tribals were originally hunters and gatherers, but soon turned their attention to agriculture as a more stable source of income, and thus occupied large tracts of land; therefore, ‘Warli’.
The art, however, emerged earlier, as mentioned before. Earliest traces can be found at around 10th century AD. The style itself, however, suggests a dating back to much earlier art styles, judging from a much more simplified structure, which resonates with early cave paintings. It is, essentially, a history that the Warli style accentuates, resonates and remembers.
The style is unique, in the way that it is elegantly simple. The paintings are traditionally done on red mud painted walls, with a mixture of rice and water, and the tools used for work are twigs found on the ground. The forms the paintings strictly use are the most basic geometric shapes: circles, triangles and lines. Every single element in their work is created from these three forms.
The simplicity of the style belies the utter complexity of what it portrays. Unlike most other art forms in India, the style does not involve a heavy background of religious motifs or symbols; instead, it conspicuously interweaves elements from the Warli everyday lifestyle. One of their most recurring figures is the image of a circle of dancers dancing around a centrally placed musician, which signifies the heightened sense of community the Warlis have, in everything they do.
One of the most important, and recurring, symbols the Warlis use is the Tree of Life, which is essentially a tree that connects all of flora and fauna, of course including man as well. The tree represents the gigantic community the tribals believe they are a part of, without thinking that they are above any other species. It is a symbol for the oneness the Warlis feel with nature, their one God.
The major problem that the Warli tribe faces today is, essentially, an over popularisation of culture, which leads to an excess of frauds that sell their work only because they have copied it off an original. The Warlis are therefore severely disadvantaged, because the creative margin they have created is taken over by ‘artists’ who sell work in their names; the result, of course, being that the Warlis are being aggressively pushed out of their own artistic space. We, thus, try to help them by retaining the authenticity of such artists, and supporting genuine Warli artists only.