THE HISTORY OF TRIBAL ART

Lisa Roy

THE HISTORY OF TRIBAL ART

Have you ever wondered what Indian Art was like before Western influences? When Canvas boards, brushes, and paints weren’t available to us? We are familiar with cave paintings, but what about art that could be bought? Looking at Ancient Indian Art, we have already familiarised ourselves with sculptures and paintings for Monarchs, but we have not familiarised ourselves with art practices for the Middle-Class communities. Tribal Art is a great topic to focus on in this regard, for their practices are based entirely on the functioning of their communities.

SANTHAL PAINTING. source: remek.in

One of the famous tribal art is of Santhal Tribe. They paint with natural colors derived from plants on handmade paper as their canvas. Their livelihood is agriculture, and they entertain themselves by dancing and making music.

Their paintings portray their community as a happy one, with dancing people, traditional musical instruments, and vibrant colors expressing their celebration for great crop development. Their paintings, especially for a traditional art style, are astonishingly lifelike to look at. Jewelry making and hunting tool crafting are two other art forms.

The Toda Tribe is another interesting tribe. Embroidery and rock mural painting are two genres of art practiced by the Toda Tribe. Their huts have an odd appearance, resembling an igloo due to their small size and twisted shape. These are made of thatched bamboo and secured with rattan. The hut's bending shape and firmness are achieved by using thicker bamboo canes on the roof and frames. Their hut's entryway is made of stone or granite, which they use to create their rock mural paintings.

Embroidery is the more important art form, as it is their sole source of income. Toda has a distinct style of dress that includes a tri-color shawl that is often red, black, and white. The Toda Tribe's color scheme is based on religion: black represents the Underworld, red represents the Earth's intermediate region, and white represents the Toda Tribe.

These shawls' patterns are intricately knitted, and they look a lot like the tattoos that earlier generations wore. Toda also embroiders straws for lamps and baskets in addition to fabric.

So far, we've learned about prehistoric art practices for communities, as well as how many of these activities have made their way into the modern world. But why has tribal art become so significant to non-tribal people? Because we are conscious of one truth: our forefathers all had the same way of life, the basic way of life, and we can watch our history unfold in front of our eyes through these creative practices.

The Warli Tribe's art forms are unique, dating back to roughly 2500 BC in the Neolithic Age. Warli dwellings were typically decorated with crimson soil and cow dung. They didn't have access to handmade paper like the Santhal tribe.

Their figurines are fascinating to look at: they are essentially stuck figures with triangle bodies, with no facial features. Males are symbolized by an upside-down triangle, which depicts their broad shoulders and slender waists. Women are depicted by hourglass figures, which are made out of two triangles with their tips connecting at the waist. The pigment is always used to fill the triangles and heads.

A circle of dancing figures may be found in every Warli painting: the Circle is the tribe's symbol. White pigment made from a mixture of rice paste, water, and gum is used to paint their masterpieces.

A chewed bamboo stick was originally used as a painting tool. Their painting skills have changed since the discovery of paint pigments and other art tools. Because their paintings display more color, they are now used in fashion, product design, and other commercial uses.

Their painting skills have changed since the discovery of paint pigments and other art tools. Because their paintings display more color, they are now used in fashion, product design, and other commercial uses.

In a nutshell, their perspective has shifted. Its function is no longer purely ornamental, but rather to create revenue. However, one thing has remained constant: their themes.

Warli's paintings have always reflected their daily lives, refusing to be affected by modern culture. In a nutshell, this tribe's lifestyle is more or less primitive. This tribe's common themes include rituals, festivals, and weddings.