Jangarh Kalam from Patangarh Continued': an exhibit in memory of a Gond artist at Delhi's Triveni Kala Sangam
'Entire Patangarh (Jangarh's native village) was in mourning. Extremely generous and compassionate, he was a legend who had brought recognition to us, our village and our traditional stories through his art. He had single-handedly built a new school of painting and trained so many others from the village to pursue it,' states Ram Kumar.
For him, it is a matter of pride that his work is now part of an exhibition featuring previously unseen works by Jangarh. Titled 'Jangarh Kalam from Patangarh Continued', the showcase organised by Progressive Art Gallery (PAG) and The Raza Foundation features works by 18 Gond artists. At Shridharani Art Gallery at Triveni Kala Sangam, the show is on till July 10. 'The aim is to celebrate the genre and help younger talent gain recognition. Over the years, the form has seen several changes and with continued experimentation it is bound to gain further popularity,' says RN Singh, founder of PAG.
Associated with Dhoomimal Gallery in Delhi in the '80s, when Jangarh had his first solo in the space, Singh adds, 'It's commendable how he worked towards this for not just himself but others belonging to his tribe. Extremely simple and sincere, he wasn't comfortable working on paper when J Swaminathan first met him, but he was a keen learner who wanted to do so much more.'
Distinguished by repetitive lines and minuscule dots that come together to share oral tales and folklore of the Pradhan Gonds, while more contemporary portrayals have been seen in Gond art in more recent years, the traditional narratives continue. The exhibition, for instance, includes a Nakul Pusham canvas with a goddess seated on a fish, under a tree with birds perched. If artist Kunti Shyam has Buddha meditating under a tree, in Ram Kumar's canvas birds are seen flying in the sky, announcing the onset of the monsoons to other inhabitants of the forest.
Artist Sushma Shyam, who learnt the nuances of the art from her husband Sunil Shyam after they got married nine years ago, has painted a scene depicting the harmful effects of alcohol, borrowing from a folktale. 'We try to bring our unique perspective to each story,' states Sushma.
While The Raza Foundation has planned a workshop in Mandla with Gond artists from Patangarh later this month, PAG will be taking the ongoing exhibition to its Dubai gallery. 'Through this exhibition, we witness not merely the legacy of a singular artist but the sustained evolution of a genre that has resisted marginalisation, embraced innovation, and anchored itself in both community and contemporary discourse,' added Harsh Vardhan Singh, director of PAG, who has curated the exhibition.
The Madhya Pradesh government, meanwhile, is also reportedly building a museum on Jangarh Singh Shyam in Patangarh. 'It is wonderful that he is getting such recognition. Several government officials have been visiting Patangarh. This will surely help bring the village onto the global art map,' adds Ram Kumar.
The indigenous art form is inspired by folktales and songs traditionally sung by Pardhan Gonds, a tribal community in Central India. While its origins are often traced to intricate patterns and nature-inspired motifs that were once made on the walls of village homes with natural pigments derived from plants and minerals, Jangarh Singh Shyam is credited with bringing it onto paper and canvases.
A flautist, his artistic calibre was spotted in the early 1980s by one of search teams sent out by artist J Swaminathan to scout for talent in the interiors of Madhya Pradesh ahead of the opening of Bharat Bhavan, a multi-arts centre in Bhopal. Impressed by 17-year-old Jangarh's Hanuman in peeli mitti, the search party had requested Jangarh to paint on paper, taking the sheets back to Swaminathan, who invited him to work in Bhopal.
A keen learner, he soon became adept with acrylics and ink. Centered around indigenous tales, his paintings and line drawings in vivid colours also reflected on urban surroundings and issues.
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The Hindu
19 hours ago
- The Hindu
Madhubani, Gond and Bhil artisans rethink the traditional
In a playful mix of Gond art and folk surrealism, Sandeep Dhurve's pelican — its delicate feathers made from fish — opens its exaggerated throat pouch to swallow a large fish and an elephant. White Pelicon was one of the artworks on display at Mentoring Magic, a recent exhibition at Gallery 47-A in Mumbai's Khotachi Wadi. 'I have a deep interest in wildlife and plants, and I try to convey interesting facts and hidden stories about them] through my paintings,' says Dhurve, 23, who hails from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Dhurve was one of nine indigenous participants in the showcase supported by Project Tarasha, a social initiative of watch brand Titan Company, which acts as an organic incubator for rural artisans. As a part of their Creative Enterprise Development Programme, they handpicked nine artists to go through digital and business skills training, as well as a six-month design mentorship led by artist and product designer Aditi Prakash, the founder of accessory brand Pure Ghee Designs. Her goal was to push the boundaries of the young artisans' creativity and storytelling in their practised art forms: Madhubani, Gond, and Bhil. 'We wanted them to be able to express their stories with greater clarity, confidence, and individuality, while remaining rooted in their deep visual tradition,' says Prakash. 'The power of the privileged world to make a change if they wanted to, whether through funding, mentoring, structuring, marketing, and that it is our responsibility to spread the magic that is around us.'Srila ChatterjeeFounder of Gallery 47-A and Baro Market, and a tireless advocate for democratising all forms of art A contemporary take The six-month process encouraged the artisans to articulate personal experiences, local myths, and everyday occurrences in their visual language. They were given space at the material lab to find their voice and develop their technical fluency. Exposed to a wide range of mediums beyond their usual acrylic paints, such as natural pigments, the artists explored unfamiliar techniques of layering surfaces and adding textures. 'This was the first time they had been invited to think beyond form and pattern, and into meaning and intent,' says Prakash. They were encouraged to take risks in their compositions — 'to help think about how the entire surface of the canvas could contribute to the mood or meaning of the work'. Bhopal-based Kamta Tahed, 37, was one of the participants. The daughter-in-law of famed Bhil artist Lado Bai, she developed her artistic voice after her marriage, under the watchful eye of the matriarch. Tahed's art is rooted in spirituality, naturism, and rural life, and at the show she included village vignettes and a pared-down depiction of Krishna. The mentorship included a field trip to Sanchi, the first visit to the Buddhist Complex for many of them, where they spent a day sketching and absorbing the historical significance of the place. For Tahed, who is working on expanding her Sanchi and Krishna series of works, the experience was eye-opening. 'I learnt how to turn my art into a story, how to create new backgrounds,' she says, adding that the idea of 'less' also took root — 'how important is it to limit colours', as visible in her dual-toned paintings. From artisans to artists Each artist maintained a daily diary to jot down new experiences or make quick five-minute drawings. This perspective-shifting habit helped them notice the world around them differently — to capture fleeting images, and develop a personal relationship with their subject. For Preeti Das, 37, a Madhubani artist, her decade-long experience has been primarily restricted to a community that sold artworks through subsidised governmental exhibitions. Until Project Tarasha. 'Traditional art forms have their own identity, but modernity is equally important,' says Das, whose post-mentorship artworks include a selection centred around the modern Indian woman: playing a guitar with a dog as a companion, riding a bike in cycling shorts, and friends enjoying coffee and conversations in a café. Prakash views these as early but significant steps toward a deeper kind of authorship, 'where they are not just representing inherited stories, but interpreting the world in their voice'. She adds: 'This is only the beginning of that journey, but already, the changes are visible in the way they compose, reflect, and create.' The artworks are currently listed on the Baro Art website. The writer is a sustainability consultant and founder of Beejliving, a lifestyle platform dedicated to slow living.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
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Art on his sleeve: As Krishen Khanna turns 100, an exclusive Wknd interview
On July 5, the legendary painter Krishen Khanna turned 100. (HT Photo) The last surviving member of the Progressive Artists' Group (PAG) — a motley crew of Modernists formed around the time of India's independence, which included MF Husain, SH Raza, FN Souza, Akbar Padamsee, KH Ara, Bhanu Athaiya, VS Gaitonde, Tyeb Mehta and Ram Kumar — Khanna's life stands testament to the journey of modern India, and Modern art. As a young man living through momentous times, he witnessed both the horrors of Partition, when he and his family were forced to leave their home in Lahore and move to Shimla, and the joyous beginnings of a newly independent country that found its moral and ethical core in a unique blend of secularism, welfare and tradition. Khanna was born in Lyallpur (now Faisalabad, in Pakistan), to Kahan Chand Khanna, a teacher at an intermediate college, and Shiela Khanna, a homemaker. At 13, he received the Rudyard Kipling Scholarship to study in England. His study there was interrupted by World War 2, however, and he returned by sea to India. News of Gandhiji's Death (1948), arguably Khanna's most recognisable work. Note the multiple vantage points of the anxious-shocked readers. (Image courtesy Asia Society India) He eventually earned his degree from Government College, Lahore, and began to work at an art press. He kept training in art alongside, a subject he had studied in school and college. He was 22 when, two days before Pakistan was born, the Khannas moved to Shimla, leaving almost everything behind. Though deeply interested in art — by 1946, a work of his had already been exhibited by the Punjab Art Society, and he had bought his first work of art — financial stability was a necessity. The year 1948 would prove to be a critical one for him. He began working at Grindlays Bank in Bombay. He bought a painting by Souza, an artist he would later befriend. A work of Khanna's, News of Gandhiji's Death (1948), was included in the Golden Jubilee exhibition of the Bombay Art Society. The following year, Khanna was made part of PAG. Though he held his post at the bank for the next 14 years, his star as a Modernist was rising. Over the long arc of a century, Khanna's prolificity as an artist would be accompanied by significant output in his role as art administrator (he was appointed co-commissioner of the first edition of the Indian Triennale, in 1968, for instance) and art collector. Khanna's work itself spans styles. Starting with abstracts, he moved to the figurative early on, telling a journalist he 'wanted to emphasise the human caught up in their particular condition'. He made murals, such as on the domed ceiling of the Maurya Sheraton hotel in Delhi, the Chola Sheraton hotel in Chennai and the Mahim Nature Park in Mumbai, that last one dedicated to the famed ornithologist Salim Ali. A view of the mural at the Maurya Sheraton in Delhi. 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When you are entering them, you are supposed to be cognisant of everything, and act in a certain way. (If you) just follow your own path, then do what you must, but the results must vindicate your approach. What happens in the art world, like in other industries, is that there are people who run it and who feel that they must tell you what to do and what not to do. My approach now is that if someone comes and says you should have done it this way and not the way you did, I say, I will keep that in mind the next time. You take a, what I call, soft approach to get things done. * You are well-known as an art collector. Tell us about the first painting you bought. It was a painting by MF Husain, which I saw in a gallery exhibition. There was some connection that I felt with the work. I bought the small work, and I still have it. It related to the small community where he lived, and depicted a lady pounding spices. It is beautiful and it is a microcosm of the many things he has done since, in methodology. This was in the early '40s, I think. * We have heard a painting your father showed you had a huge impact on you as a child. Can you tell us about it? My father, KC Khanna, the first Indian principal of the Delhi Public School at Mathura Road in Delhi, bought a reproduction of a painting from Italy when I was about 10 years old. It was a depiction of the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. I was so taken by it. The drama of the painting is very moving. The painting does not shout, it is quiet and this makes a statement. Daddy was an extraordinary man who knew the Bible and many other scriptures. He patiently sat me down and told me about this remarkable painting. I tried to draw it; he then drew it for me on a small piece of paper, but with only the positions of the Apostles. The construction of the painting was so well-thought-out; Judas was somewhere in the back. * How did you meet your wife, Renuka Chatterjee? Well, I saw her when she was very young; she was always a lady. We were friends and then eventually became something more. Our fathers worked together, they knew each other and were close. All the siblings knew each other. Our story grew in the natural course of things. * Tell us about an event, an incident in your interactions with other painters of your time, that still stands out for you today. There have been so many, but there is one involving Raza that I recall well. I was staying with him in Paris at the time. One day, we visited a gallery whose name I now forget. When we arrived there, he told me to close my eyes and he took me inside holding my hand. Finally, we came to a small room where he asked me to open my eyes. There was a very small painting of Jesus on the wall. I was stunned by it, and so was Raza. It was by an artist from northern Italy and was of Mother Mary holding the dying Christ (a common devotional image, the Pieta, painted by many European artists). One had to view this in silence for it to enter one's soul. Seeing a painting is like entering a cathedral, there can be no noise or chatter around it. Raza was a remarkable artist and a very great friend. On another occasion, I was staying at the university quarters in Paris and he had stepped out to meet his fiancé. He had started a painting which he asked me to finish while he was gone. I did so, and finished it in my style. A great aficionado of the arts bought this painting and it hangs in his house still. Another great artist was Tyeb Mehta, who was very self-effacing and didn't know how to sell his art. His paintings went on to sell for record-breaking prices (in auctions after his death). I remember meeting some gallery owners I had introduced him to. They told me that I was better than him. I responded saying that art was not a race. A painting is a construction of many facets of your personality, and cannot be judged as better or worse than another. (With inputs from Rasika Khanna)
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Indian Express
Jangarh Kalam from Patangarh Continued': an exhibit in memory of a Gond artist at Delhi's Triveni Kala Sangam
Artist Ram Kumar Shyam distinctly remembers the fateful day in July 2001 when Gond art legend Jangarh Singh Shyam's body was brought to Bhopal from Mithila Museum in Japan, where he allegedly died by suicide during a residency. 'Entire Patangarh (Jangarh's native village) was in mourning. Extremely generous and compassionate, he was a legend who had brought recognition to us, our village and our traditional stories through his art. He had single-handedly built a new school of painting and trained so many others from the village to pursue it,' states Ram Kumar. For him, it is a matter of pride that his work is now part of an exhibition featuring previously unseen works by Jangarh. Titled 'Jangarh Kalam from Patangarh Continued', the showcase organised by Progressive Art Gallery (PAG) and The Raza Foundation features works by 18 Gond artists. At Shridharani Art Gallery at Triveni Kala Sangam, the show is on till July 10. 'The aim is to celebrate the genre and help younger talent gain recognition. Over the years, the form has seen several changes and with continued experimentation it is bound to gain further popularity,' says RN Singh, founder of PAG. Associated with Dhoomimal Gallery in Delhi in the '80s, when Jangarh had his first solo in the space, Singh adds, 'It's commendable how he worked towards this for not just himself but others belonging to his tribe. Extremely simple and sincere, he wasn't comfortable working on paper when J Swaminathan first met him, but he was a keen learner who wanted to do so much more.' Distinguished by repetitive lines and minuscule dots that come together to share oral tales and folklore of the Pradhan Gonds, while more contemporary portrayals have been seen in Gond art in more recent years, the traditional narratives continue. The exhibition, for instance, includes a Nakul Pusham canvas with a goddess seated on a fish, under a tree with birds perched. If artist Kunti Shyam has Buddha meditating under a tree, in Ram Kumar's canvas birds are seen flying in the sky, announcing the onset of the monsoons to other inhabitants of the forest. Artist Sushma Shyam, who learnt the nuances of the art from her husband Sunil Shyam after they got married nine years ago, has painted a scene depicting the harmful effects of alcohol, borrowing from a folktale. 'We try to bring our unique perspective to each story,' states Sushma. While The Raza Foundation has planned a workshop in Mandla with Gond artists from Patangarh later this month, PAG will be taking the ongoing exhibition to its Dubai gallery. 'Through this exhibition, we witness not merely the legacy of a singular artist but the sustained evolution of a genre that has resisted marginalisation, embraced innovation, and anchored itself in both community and contemporary discourse,' added Harsh Vardhan Singh, director of PAG, who has curated the exhibition. The Madhya Pradesh government, meanwhile, is also reportedly building a museum on Jangarh Singh Shyam in Patangarh. 'It is wonderful that he is getting such recognition. Several government officials have been visiting Patangarh. This will surely help bring the village onto the global art map,' adds Ram Kumar. The indigenous art form is inspired by folktales and songs traditionally sung by Pardhan Gonds, a tribal community in Central India. While its origins are often traced to intricate patterns and nature-inspired motifs that were once made on the walls of village homes with natural pigments derived from plants and minerals, Jangarh Singh Shyam is credited with bringing it onto paper and canvases. A flautist, his artistic calibre was spotted in the early 1980s by one of search teams sent out by artist J Swaminathan to scout for talent in the interiors of Madhya Pradesh ahead of the opening of Bharat Bhavan, a multi-arts centre in Bhopal. Impressed by 17-year-old Jangarh's Hanuman in peeli mitti, the search party had requested Jangarh to paint on paper, taking the sheets back to Swaminathan, who invited him to work in Bhopal. A keen learner, he soon became adept with acrylics and ink. Centered around indigenous tales, his paintings and line drawings in vivid colours also reflected on urban surroundings and issues.
