Gond Art: The Mesmerizing Tribal Folk Art of India | By Kamaniya

Gond art is practices by the Pradhan Gond tribes of Madhya Pradesh in central India. It is a traditional folk handicraft form that began around 2000-1400 years back. Though many claim that its origins cannot be traced back to history as such and is unknown.

This art form portrays myths, nature, folklore, legends and also contemporary everyday life. It is a popular pictorial art form with a rich history, myriad themes and patterns, divine deities (primary deity of the Gond was revered as Bada Deo), dance forms, signature art, ancient tales, and symbols (dighna and chowkha), stories and lore, and extravagant colors and finally, a great bond with nature.

The Gond were generally kings and leaders with the forests as their homes and a primarily an agrarian community. They are one of the largest indigenous and most well-known indigenous community in India. The Pradhan’s were the artists of the community including singers, painters, weavers etc.

Gond means the green mountains (because this ethnolinguistic community lives among the green hills of the Gond ranges) and is derived from the word Kond in Dravidian language. The Gond are of Dravidian origin and the largest Adivasi (indigenous) community in India.

They also refer to themselves as Koi or Koiture. Gond art is also known as Pradhan painting. Another name for it is Jangarh kalam because Jangarh Singh Shyam was the first named and known Gond Pradhan artist. His first Gond art item was auctioned as recently as 1988. He has been the torchbearer of this art and hence it sold at $ 31,250. This was considered a whooping amount for a tribal art form.

Gond art is displayed at Bharat Bhavan, a museum Bhopal. The efforts to first showcase Gond art was once again spearheaded by young Jangarh Shyam in a meeting with the then Director of the Museum, J Swaminathan. Now, Bharat Bhavan is a place of pride for the Gond community people and the Mecca and Medina for Gond artists.

The Gond speak the Gondi language and some research says it is spoken by over 3 million people. Their dance forms include the Saila and Karma that they showcase in dance festivals like the Gondi Dandari festival of Rajgonds of Adilabad.

The Gond people are a close knot tribal community and draw inspiration of this art from what they consider “spirits” that they feel is there in every form of nature, be it the hills, the valleys, the rivers, the skies etc. It is said that in ancient times, the Gonds would invoke these divine spirits in nature by singing. It was a sort of worship of nature.

It is said that these songs were rendered into images of good fortune in Gond art. They believed that watching or displaying good images brought good luck as well. The practitioners of this form of art also believed that seeing a great picture brings good fortune. So, they painted and visualized good luck in the form of traditional tattoos and patterns. One famous tattoo was that of a mythic form where a local embodiment of Eve called Naga Baigin covered her entire body in Gond art tattoos like a garment to cover her naked body. This remarkable form and many more such wonderous practice was handed down generations of Gond people.

It also mapped lineage, which is the most challenging aspect of folk and tribal art forms. This is because they would not have enough resources and items to use to preserve their lineage information. One way would certainly be art, as it is self-done and easily practised.

The Gond tribes are also known to have some amazing cave wall paintings and carvings that seem to have been of the Mesolithic ages. There also paintings on the walls of their rural homes for bringing good luck through good images. Obviously it also had a decorative purpose too. But again it is not just a decorative art, it also has much more to it with vivid stories woven into it just like weaving one’s life, culture, society and history into textiles.

This Kamaniya does as well and most skilfully with Gond art and creates a bond with nature and this art form through its Gond art fashion. In fact the transition of Gond art as a domestic practice to a commercial success story with sophisticated renditions in fashion is best understood and visualized by Kamaniya by its highly skilled team working for perfection, high quality, and variety.

Some of Gond art also portrayed their rich history with unique motifs, images, and colors. With all this it has emerged as a wonder art, which is well appreciated and even adapted worldwide and displayed for global recognition. Kamaniya works to take this art world over too.

It is a tribal art form that uses natural colors that are made from deep red soil called Geru, some white soil, and yellow (ochre) soil from Amarkantak, cow dung, black from charcoal, plants and bean leaves. Even the brushes are sometimes hand made with sticks or bamboo. Modern creators of course also use acrylic and canvas.

It upholds their culture, life, tradition and society with every stroke of this art. The style of art uses lines and dots and dashes. Every line, dot or dash is drawn in order to highlight the intricacies of this art and make it catchy to the buyer.

Each piece of art has a visual language of its own and can be limited edition pieces when it comes to fashion items from Kamaniya. Much of it is also now adapted to new unique styles while keeping its roots and original aura intact. Kamaniya does the same, while aiming to rekindle many lost art forms and integrate them into fine fashion items.

Infact, Gond art was not very well known before the last 40 or so years. It was brought into limelight by Gond artists who played a critical role in reviving this art form. A lot of emotions go into this revival process and brings alive the community values of being spirited and immortal.

It is indeed a shared community tradition brought down ages and from it has come alive contemporary recreations. Other than garments it is seen on wood, boxes, handbags, greeting cards, and trays most commonly.

However, garments are also the most popular way to depict Gond art. So, what do the Gond wear? Gond men just like many parts of India usually would wear a dhoti (loincloth) or lungi (wrap-around piece of cloth) paired with a shirt. Women again just like most of India would wear sarees or lehengas matched with blouses. To go with it was traditional jewellery. So, their garments reflect much of India and its fashion culture. However, the art of it is Gond to its perfection. And that is unique and unparalled in style. Kamaniya also has its eclectic range of Gond art items and in many forms, its saris being the most prolific.

You can take your type of Gond art item home and bring all the good fortune it promises in its immaculate imagery. You will feel lucky like never before!