INDIA
The Yuva Ekta Foundation is a not for profit Trust based in New Delhi, India, that works at the intersection of Youth & Governance, through the Social Arts. With a focus on Social Justice and Empowerment, the Foundation creates safe spaces for creative expression and co-learning, as it builds bridges between marginalized and privileged young adults.
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Taking forward the Vision of the Foundation, the Conference of the Birds, India, will reach out across the country, to bring traditional, contemporary, participatory and cross media art forms together, as it explores the stories of vulnerable communities, both rural and urban, during the pandemic.
The Body Mapping workshop that we conducted with a select group of 18 women, of different age groups, in Rohaal Village, Banswara, was to gently push the boundaries of sexuality and empowered choices in a predominantly patriarchal society.
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The girls and women enjoyed the session even though it was a first for many of the seniors to draw and color with crayons, as they responded to our prompts, to choose parts of their body they were comfortable with, proud of, as well as those they felt shy and embarrassed about and were fearful of. It was heartening to see how transparent and easy the women were, to share their thoughts.
“SURRENDER – a Journey towards the Light” is the outcome of a 10 day workshop led by Avinash Kumar along with his contemporary dancers, Pradeep Kumar, Govinda and Rohit from Unlock Performing Arts, who opened themselves up to the syntax of classical Indian dance, represented through acclaimed Kathak dancer Gauri Diwakar and Odissi exponent Madhuri Bhowmick.
The Internet and the World Wide Web have made it possible today for Artistic Merit to survive. This is the exploration we undertake through our film, ‘Confluence’, where traditional Patachitra craft embraces Modern Technology.
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In the words of Cultural Entrepreneur, Nandita Palchoudhuri,
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“These are very resilient people and they have gone through many a trough, and have the ability to persist and persist and re-think their whole kind of existence. They have no barriers in experimenting.”
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Yet, to keep this tradition pure and true to its original form, Mamoni and her sister Sonali share with us how they make their colours from natural organic substances like flowers, leaves and rice paste.
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Samir Chitrakar, Mamoni’s husband, introduces their daughter Karishma, who is being educated online and is also being trained as a painter and singer, to carry their tradition forward. It is truly a delight to see the entire family bridging the gap between the Old and New, as they settle around a Patachitra canvas and blend in the details, in perfect harmony.
Mayur and Tushar Vayeda, an MBA graduate and a professionally trained animator, dropped their qualifications to return to their roots in their village Devgaon, Ganjad in Maharashtra, seeking to inspire the villagers to return to their original sustainable lifestyle.
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From painting on walls to painting on canvas, Mayur and Tushar retain the purity of their Art Form to whatever extent possible. Most important is their consciousness of preserving this Legacy, of handing it over to future generations.
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The studio on the first floor of their home in Devgaon is a creative hot bed of young energies adapting their rich tradition to international influences.
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Their new series “The Creation of the World” is a breath-taking representation of 18 canvases that explore the beginnings of the Cosmos with the Big Bang, with Mahadev ie. Lord Shiva and his consort, Ganga Gauri ie. Goddess Parvati descending on Earth, and the ensuing story of preservation, destruction and the continuum of Life, through renewing our balance with Nature and all the life forms of the Planet.
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As the Warlis struggle to keep their head above the tsunami of globalisation and strive to bring back equilibrium, between the consumption and replenishment of our Planet’s resources, their inherent simplicity and joy serve as a beacon for our way forward.
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Like the birds who finally move towards complete annihilation of themselves, seeking union with the Simurgh, it’s time that we humans too annihilate our Ego and Greed, as we rekindle our veneration for Mother Earth, to honor and protect the abundance she has bestowed on us.
“So long as you are identified with the things of the world
you will not set out on the Path,
but when the world no longer binds you, you enter as in a dream;
but, knowing the end, you see the benefit.” – Attar
VALLEY 1 - THE QUEST
The journey begins…
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The Hoopoe in the Sufi poem said:
“One who enters here will be filled with such longing that they will give themself up completely to the quest symbolized by this valley. Then they will no longer fear the dragons….When the door is opened and they enter, then dogma, belief and unbelief—all cease to exist.”
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And our Anishnawbe elder and Guiding Bird, Duke Redbird, challenged us to consider the difference between Western hierarchies, and indigenous hierarchies that honoured Mother Earth and our co-existence.
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Our birds were asked:
“What beliefs or dogmas shape or impact you? What superpowers do you possess to take this journey?”
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‘The Valley of Quest’ takes us to Bassi, a small village in rural Rajasthan, India, where 12 young adults come together to explore what ‘Quest’ means to them, and the impact of the pandemic on their dreams, aspirations, and the world around them.
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Most of the participants have no experience in theatre, or ever performed on stage. They are shy, inhibited, but full of stories, and are excited to share them with the world. 10 days of an intensive Theatre workshop with our Master Practitioner Pankaj Gupta provides that safe space, where they can delve deeper into themselves, and find the confidence to share their dreams and vulnerabilities. This intense process culminates in a play titled ‘Nayi Khoj, Nayi Udaan’ (A New Quest, A New Flight).
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The play traces the journey of Babu, a migrant laborer who had moved to the big city in dreams of success and comfort, but has his world turned upside down because of the pandemic. He represents thousands of migrant labourers who were forced out of their jobs by the sudden lockdown, and chose to hazard the long journey home to their village, with whatever transport was available at that moment. Many trek back a long arduous journey.
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The play explores the changes Babu and his wife, Lakshmi, perceive in their village on their return, through diverse stories of struggle, pain, fortitude and a new strength! As our young participants revisit the past 16 months, they reflect on how they have adapted to a new reality, what they have shed and the wisdom they have almost subliminally, acquired.
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On the penultimate day, the play is showcased for the community members of Danau Kalan village in a ‘safe-live event’. The audience members are from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. Most notably, there are health workers and local governing body members, in addition to workers of Doosra Dashak (our partner organization) and women and children from the community.
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The ‘Valley of Quest’ has been an incredible experience for our team, our young participants as well as the community members. This play is the start of a beautiful journey, one of courage, resilience and hope! We thank Simon Sharkey and the entire team of Conference of the Birds project for this opportunity, and the British Council India for their invaluable support.
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VALLEY 2 - LOVE
In this Valley of Love, journeying birds were asked to consider how love manifested in their communities and to share a ritual that expresses love and teach it to another – after considering:
“If you look at things with the eye of ordinary reason you will never understand how necessary- it is to love.”– Attar, Conference of the Birds
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“And from strength will come power
The power to Love
And of Love
Humanity shall acquire reconciliation…through the power of Love.” – Duke Redbird
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Duke’s is particularly timely/topical as Canada just announced new calls-to-action on Sept.30, Canada’s national day for Truth and Reconciliation.
And I believe our project asks us to reconcile our practices, with the planet and others…
“To enter it one must be a flaming fire. True love knows no after-thoughts; with love, good and evil cease to exist.”
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The Valley of Love dips into the Sufi Heart of complete surrender to the Divine – ‘Oneness with the Supreme’, the unconditional Love of the seeker yearning for complete Union.
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A mystic and ascetic aspect of Islam, Sufism is considered as the part of Islamic teaching that deals with the purification of the inner self. With the advent of Islam in the early 8th century, Sufi mystic traditions became more visible during the 10th and 11th centuries of the Delhi Sultanate and subsequently, to the rest of India.
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Poet Amir Khusrau, the 14th-century courtier to seven kings, was a fervent devotee
of the Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, scholar and saint of the Chishti Order. Like most of the Chishti Sufi saints, Nizamuddin Auliya stresses on Love as a means of realising God. He believes the Love of God implies a love of Humanity.
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His ardent disciple, Khusrau was a man of ecstasy and rapture, and the Safinat-ul-Auliya by Dara Shikoh mentions that he was always burning in the flames of passion and longing, “so much so that often the clothes on his body would be charred.”
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Our Poet Dilip Shankar, celebrates Amir Khusrau’s love for his spiritual mentor, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, even echoes Attar’s words:
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“To love truly a man must forget about himself, be he ascetic or libertine.”
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Coming to our present times, we move into the bustling, narrow lanes of Nizamuddin in Delhi, consecrated ground with two important historic sites – the grand mausoleum of Empror Humayun’s Tomb and the Sufi Dargah or shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, where energetic Sufi devotional music performances (qawwalis) are held at sunset, every Thursday.
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Here we meet the Aagaaz Theatre Trust that works with marginalized youth of the Nizamuddin ‘Basti’ (community). An Urdu word that means ‘beginnings’, Aagaaz takes theatre to spaces beyond the realm of the ‘privileged’ community, to build a different narrative of the city. At its core are young adults from this community, who are growing into arts practitioners, theatre makers, and facilitators. The repertoire has taken their performances to several theatre festivals and cities across the country.
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The Aagaaz repertory members respond to the theme of ‘Love’ very warmly and openly. As one of the members note, the very meaning of love has altered for them in this time – moving from something between people to a love for a space, a diary, a pen …
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These young people have experienced a sense of isolation and alienation from the rest of the city during the lockdown, and have moving stories to offer, as we transit into a space of Introspection & Reflection, as we travel to the Valley of Love.
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The performance created is an amalgamation of poetry, singing, music and theatre. The pandemic signalled the arrival of several changes among the residents of this community. The members of the repertory explore the journey that inadvertently took place because of the lockdown. Also a site of huge political turmoil before the lockdown started in India, residents of the Nizamuddin Basti faced a conflict of identity; the gaze of syncretism was beginning to change. How does one find ‘Love’ in any of this? Is it possible to remember the lineage of love, devotion, surrender and mysticism that forms the essence of the Nizamuddin Basti?
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The performance titled ‘Love in the Time of Corona’ is a piece that emerged from the workshop experiences of Aagaaz Theatre Trust on the theme of ‘Love’. It explores the personal space of residents as they adapted to their new lives and found love once again. Interspersed with this narrative is the voice of Dilip Shankar, an actor, producer, director and singer, who brings to light the writings of Amir Khusrau and Kabir, as we explore the coexistence between the Mystic and the Modern concept of Love.
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We end with a quote from Kabir Das, the 15th-century Indian mystic poet and saint.
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A humble weaver by profession, Kabir is deeply critical of all organized religion, as he urges people to look within and consider all human beings as manifestation of God’s living forms. He stresses on dropping one’s Ego, in complete surrender to the Formless One, as our Inner Self dissolves into the Universe.
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“Do lovers regard their lives? The lover sets fire to all hope of harvest, he puts the blade to his neck, he pierces his body. With love comes sorrow and the heart’s blood. Love loves the difficult things.” – Fariduddin Attar
VALLEY 3 - KNOWLEDGE
In this valley of knowledge, we asked our groups to explore the true meaning and understanding of knowledge in a world where we have information overload, fake news and disconnect from nature.
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Duke Redbird tells us the only information highway we need to plug into is nature. Pawel Pokutycki asks us what the digital paradigm offers us by way of information and understanding.
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We asked our groups to capture the experience of a sunrise and note all the sensations, feelings, images and thoughts then share them on the information highway. What feelings do we have when we experience these sunrises digitally?
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Let us know, and place your sunrises on our padlet in the explore page.
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The Valley of Understanding
A Safe Live Event that Salutes Covid Relief Warriors
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“Love is the very marrow of beings;
but there can be no real love without real suffering.” – Attar
Welcome to the Valley of Understanding, a Space of Love and Hope, Knowledge and Wisdom, going beyond mere information into a space of deep listening and empathy.
The trauma of the Covid 19 pandemic that we experienced collectively as Humans, spurred us to pay tribute to the Covid Relief Warriors in Delhi, who had steeled themselves to overcome their own fears and pain and reach out to help others.
The format of Playback Theatre seemed appropriate to a ‘Safe Live Event’, allowing us to follow the Covid protocols.
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Playing out in the salubrious environment of the Ojas Art Gallery, the Yuva Ekta Playback Theatre Group saluted 6 Covid Relief Warriors from different walks of life.
The conversations capture the difficult experiences faced throughout the Covid Pandemic including themes of dealing with grief, mental health issues and suicidal thoughts. Each Capsule explores these themes with dignity, respect and from a place of understanding.
These were deeply moving stories of Humanity coming together with a spirit of Gratitude and a deep respect for the Dignity of Life.
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The 2-hour Playback performance struck a cord with the participants as well as the audience, who had warmed up to the session by initially documenting an Act of Kindness they could recall instantly.
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For the actors and musician, the joy of performing in front of a live audience was exhilarating, leaving the entire gathering grateful for the warm Human contact and hoping for much more!
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“Try to understand the sense of things.
If you let no one benefit by your gold you will not profit either.
Good fortune will come to you only as you give.” – Attar
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​1. Richa Sundar
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from project ROTI, who inspired the privileged neighbourhood of Sunder Nagar in South Delhi, to cook chapatis every day for the migrants and marginalized.​
2. Maika Badwhar
Founder of the Rasoi on Wheels Foundation. Apart from food and medical supplies, they launched ASHA, a rehabilitation program to empower Widows during Covid, thereby making them self reliant.
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3. Rachit Kumar Srivastava
A practicing lawyer who started a WhatsApp group offering free legal aid to help fraud victims.
4. Suraj Kumar
from Karwaan-e-Mohabbat, the Caravan of Love, who reached out to victims of Hate Violence with the Healing touch of Compassion and Hope
5. Dr. Jai Khullar
front line worker in charge of the Covid Unit at the Sehgal Neo Hospital, who felt he was “fighting a sophisticated enemy with sticks and stones”!
6. Gilles Chuyan
Dancer, Choreographer, Energy Worker who joined Healer Rohini Singh at her online Morning Prayer Meetings everday, helping to create a space of Intimacy, Love and Togetherness for people across the world.
VALLEY 4 - INDEPENDENCE & DETACHMENT
In this Valley of Detachment, the Hoopoe tells us:
“Then comes the valley where there is neither the desire to possess nor the wish to discover…Even when the blood of your heart shall fill the ocean, you will only be able to make the first stage. No traveller has seen the limit of this journey.”
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Our Guiding Bird Duke Redbird shares wisdom through his poetry around loss and reflection.
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We in turn asked the birds:
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“What losses and dramatic changes have you and your community experienced that have detached you from a sense of belonging, a sense of agency, a sense of being in control? What do you see in the mirror and what is the true inner reflection of you as a person or your community as a force? How can you write the change you believe in for your community, for this planet?”
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Holding up Half the Sky
The Valley of Independence & Detachment
“Then comes the valley where there is neither the desire to possess
nor the wish to discover….
This Valley is not so easy to cross.
Even when the blood of your heart shall fill the ocean,
you will only be able to make the first stage.
No traveller has seen the limit of this journey.” – Attar
Millions of women across India – tribal, migrant workers, sex workers, differently abled, homeless, continue to face many personal and socio-cultural menstrual challenges, from the indignity of not having clean cloth to the absence of private spaces, livelihood and related issues of health and hygiene.
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Women are half of Humanity and menstruation is a monthly biological process.
For a vast majority of women, their dignity, safety and livelihood are closely tied to their menstrual struggles every month.
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With sanitary pads being unaffordable and inaccessible, how do they procure enough cloth to keep themselves clean?
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This is the challenge that Goonj, the NGO headquartered in Delhi, decided to tackle as a part of its social development initiatives. A countrywide campaign was launched to break the culture of shame and silence around menstruation, even as they began producing cloth sanitary pads, ‘My Pads’, to be distributed across the length and breadth of the country, for the last woman in rural and slum India. Thereby addressing menstrual hygiene challenges with a ‘Triple A’ approach of Access, Awareness and Affordability.
With a focus on the receiver’s dignity instead of the donor’s pride, Goonj started the
‘Dignity For Work’ initiative in villages, motivating rural women and communities to use their wisdom, resources and efforts to address their related sanitation, water and health issues.
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Goonj envisions growing as an idea across regions, economies and countries using urban discard as a tool to alleviate poverty and enhance the dignity of the underprivileged by evolving their own solutions.
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It was inspiring to capture the sensitivity and detail to hygiene so evident at the Goonj manufacturing unit, at their Headquarters in Delhi. The commitment to their Vision was wonderfully displayed at their project sites at Banswara, Rajasthan, where we interacted with the stakeholders with admiration and respect.
The Covid crisis has been a clarion call for all of us to share the Earth’s resources more equitably and move towards a more Compassionate Humanity.
VALLEY 5 - UNITY
In this valley the Hoopoe tells us:
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“I and you are no longer relevant as we are one with everything” – Attar
Duke tells us that the Dish with One Spoon philosophy is unity itself:
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The “dish” represents the land that is to be shared peacefully and the “spoon” represents the individuals living on and using the resources of the land in a spirit of mutual co-operation
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And from his poem The Dance:
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“My voice and my heart, if they live, I live...” – Duke Redbird
With this wisdom and guidance in mind, we asked the birds:
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What do you see that has atomized/broken apart in your community or the world? How do we bring it back together?
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We tasked the artists to create something that symbolizes unifying.
SURRENDER – a Journey towards the Light!
“Everything is broken in pieces and then unified. Although you seem to see many beings, in reality there is only one— all make one which is complete in its unity.” – Attar
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Taking us through the Valley of Unity is Dancer & Choreographer, Avinash Kumar, as he collaborates with renowned Kathak Dancer & Choreographer, Gauri Diwakar and Odissi exponent Madhuri Bhowmick to present this original composition.
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Having travelled through 4 Valleys, the birds are on their way to find the magical Simurgh. They are tired and impatient now, each wants to go in a separate direction and urges the others to follow him. Confused and fragmented, they scatter in different directions. Finally they converge onto one path and decide to go together.
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From the opposite direction, the Kathak dancer enters and stops them, saying that they are taking the wrong path. She knows where the Simurgh lives and will tell them how to get there. She has a story to share about the Simurgh.
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The birds reject her, but then one bird gets drawn into her story. He is enjoying himself so much that the others become curious and slowly join them. Soon they are mesmerised by the dancer and are completely under her spell.
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The Odissi dancer enters as a Celestial being, singing of complete surrender to the Divine. The birds are fascinated by this new energy and try to absorb the message that she brings with her.
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The Storyteller and the Celestial Being, one grounded, another soaring, celebrate each another with a Jugal Bandhi, a playful duet. The birds watch entranced and slowly join the Dance of Joy, of Celebration, as they surrender to the Divine. The Supreme Being will guide them and show them the Way!
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“I do not know if Thou art I or I am Thou; I have been reduced to nothing in Thee and duality has been lost.” – Attar
SURRENDER – a Journey towards the Light
is the outcome of a 10 day workshop led by Avinash Kumar along with his contemporary dancers, Pradeep Kumar, Govinda and Rohit from Unlock Performing Arts, who opened themselves up to the syntax of classical Indian dance, represented through acclaimed Kathak dancer Gauri Diwakar and Odissi exponent Madhuri Bhowmick.
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Avinash Kumar, the Founder of Unlock Performing Arts, is a trained Dancer & Choreographer in Mayur Bhanj Chhau & Contemporary dance as well as being a trained Puppeteer. He has worked with Dadi Pudumjee, Anurupa Roy & Astad Deboo for the last 12 years & won several awards.
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Unlock Performing Arts was established in 2018 for giving a platform to young talent who have no degree, diploma or certificate from any renowned institution but have the energy and enthusiasm for ‘unlocking’ the limits of different practices within the performing arts, to create something fresh and new.
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Pradeep Kumar, Govinda and Rohit have been with Unlock Performing Arts since its inception and are also trained in Mayur Bhanj Chhau and Contemporary Dance.
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Gauri Diwakar is an acclaimed Kathak dancer and choreographer based in New Delhi, India. Gauri was trained by eminent Gurus, Ms Sumita Chowdhary, Pandit Birju Maharaj, Shri Jai Kishan Maharaj and Ms Aditi Mangaldas. As Gauri says,
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“Kathak means storytelling. Storytelling is best when expressed with abandon, without inhibition. For me as a dancer , the greatest challenge is to weave the differences, the colours into the dynamism of Kathak. This is not to lose the individuality of colours but to show the beautiful rainbow, where every shade glows but it is ‘One” rainbow. This sense of oneness makes you free. And as you become free you dance with abandon.”
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Gauri is training young students under her own trust “Gauri Diwakar Sanskriti Foundation- Sarvatra Nrityam”, helping to keep the age-old tradition alive.
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Madhuri Bhowmick has been training in Odissi dance for over a decade under the guidance of Padmashri Guru Smt. Geeta Mahalik ji. She has performed in 2019 with her Guru in the Festival of India , Russia.Madhuri is also trained in other forms such as contemporary, jazz, ballet etc. and has a dance organisation of her own ‘The Noval Danza Arts’ which extensively works towards dance and movement amongst varied age groups. Madhuri is an NLP and a Mindfulness certified practitioner too.
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The Music Track for this piece is an original composition by the Aniruddh Varma Collective.
VALLEY 6 - WONDERMENT
In the Valley of Wonderment the Hoopoe tells us:
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“Man lives in a dream …do not do as you have always done, be astonished and bewildered.”
and Duke reminds us that artists must chronicle their times, as from his poem, Daphne Odjig:
“The people drew their legacy in colours and in line
The memory of ten thousand years eternally enshrined”
As artists are masters of wondering, we invited all birds to:
“Wander and wonder, then create an act of wanton wonder.”
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In the Valley of Wonderment we shared with each other something we cherished.
Each of us sent another participant a voice message telling them one thing that amazed us: an experience, a being, a phrase, some poetry, a particular moment in our life. We wanted to discover wonderment in anything and everything. We wanted to share a gift.
Here is the result of those eight experiences.
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Confluence
Traditional Patachitra Craft embraces Modern Technology
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India is home to more than 3000 craft forms with artisans spread across the country.
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In fact, after agriculture, the handloom and handicraft sector in India is the second-largest employment provider. This was hugely impacted during the Covid pandemic, as the wave of panic sweeping across the country shut everything down, leaving the artists and craftsmen with virtually no source of income.
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This is when communities got back together, especially in the villages, as people started sharing resources. They discovered the advantages of technology and understood the use of the Smartphone as a tool to access markets, to connect with other artisans, form networks amongst themselves, as well as forge links across borders with online training and workshops.
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This is the story of Mamoni Chitrakar, a Patachitra Artist from Naya Village, Pingla District, West Bengal. Patachitra is an ancient form of visual storytelling, accompanied by songs, where the painter is also the performer. Naya is home to over 250 Patachitra artists who have a vibrant client base across the world.
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Covid brought everything to a grinding halt. As the world struggled to make sense of this unknown virus, no fires were lit in many of these homes, until the government intervened with free rations and medical aid. Once these basics were taken care of, people like Mamoni started receiving requests to record and share their songs over the telephone. WhatsApp calls opened them to the possibility of the visual element and slowly their classes, their workshops moved on-line, generating some income for them.
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Today Mamoni considers the Smart Phone as her ‘best friend’, who has helped her continue her work online, even though she misses the on-ground human interaction.
VALLEY 7 - ENLIGHTENMENT
In this final valley, the Hoopoe tells us:
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“In this calm sea, a man, at first, experiences only humiliation and overthrow; but when he emerges from this state, he will understand it as creation, and many secrets will be revealed to him.”
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Duke shared his wonderful new poem, Mother Earth, (inspired in part by this project (the greatest creation).
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We also looked to the worlds of Carl Sagan: In our obscurity – in all this vastness – there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
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In the journey we have travelled, it seems the time has come to be both humble and bold. Humble in knowing that we are not everything and yet bold in our commitments to caring for our earth and each other.
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As we land in Glasgow, alongside COP26, our final making request of the birds was to make a pledge to the planet: our world, our communities.
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“We can’t go back and make things the way they were.
Sometimes I feel that without the human being, nature could live better.
The birds would be alright and the cycle of life could go on.
Now we must try and recover what we did wrong, what our ancestors did.
We need to think about living a simpler life, a life in nature”.
The Valley of Enlightenment
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“When the ocean of immensity begins to heave,
the pattern on its surface loses its form;
and this pattern is no other than the world present
and the world to come.” – Attar
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The birds have journeyed across the Valleys of the Quest, Love, Understanding, Detachment, Unity and Wonderment. In the process, they have opened themselves up to a deeper perception of Who they are and What they are seeking. As they become aware of the ephemeral nature of the material world, they recognize that for true Union, one must be “like a flaming fire” and completely surrender to the Divine – the Simurgh!
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With this understanding they arrive at the final Valley, the Valley of Enlightenment.
To welcome the birds and take them towards the inner wisdom that has been handed down generations, are the Warlis, an indigenous tribe of western India, living in the mountainous as well as coastal areas along the Maharashtra-Gujarat border.
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Warli comes from ‘Warla’ meaning ‘tilled land’. Warli is the name of the agrarian tribe that tills. They have their own animistic beliefs, life, customs and traditions, and as a result of acculturation, have adopted many Hindu beliefs. Known for the paintings that are usually on the outside walls of their mud huts, Warli Art is an age-old tradition that dates back to the 10th Century, when the art was used as a means of narrating folk tales. Since there is no written script for the tribe, these paintings became an alternative mode of expression.
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Some historians date Warli art back to 2,600 BC, drawing a stylistic similarity with the Bhimbetka Rock paintings found in one of the largest prehistoric complexes in the Indian Subcontinent, to the paintings done by the tribes of Warli, Chittara and Saora. Hence, these tribes are considered the successors and descendants of the original inhabitants of the Bhimbetka caves, the oldest of which is believed to date back 12,000 years ago.
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This art of telling stories is an integral part of Warli culture and is interwoven with the tribe’s everyday life, deeply connected to the Land and the elements.
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This is where we meet our two young Warli artists, Mayur and Tushar Vayeda, who have taken on themselves the responsibility of preserving the purity of Warli Art, infusing it with a new life force that organically absorbs international influences.
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As these young Warlis bridge the gap between the rural and the urban, the traditional and the modern, they re-discover the wisdom of their ancestors, and give it expression on their canvas. A fascinating series called ‘Disappearing Spirits’ unfurls 16 paintings that try to ascribe form to the formless, exploring deep rooted beliefs about the Universe and Creation.
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‘The Wave’ is their brilliant response to the Covid 19 pandemic devastating the World, and its impact on the tribals as well.
Art Exhibition
Conference of the Birds, India - Art Exhibition
22nd October to 7th November, 2021
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Ojas Art @1AQ, Qutab Minar Roundabout, New Dehli, India
Produced by Ojas Arts in association with The Yuva Ekta Foundation.
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Artists
ABHISHEK SING – BHAJJU SHYAM – GR IRANNA – JAGANNATH PANDA – LADO BAI- MADHVI PAREKH – MANJUNATH KAMATH – MAYANK SHYAM – MAYUR & TUSHAR VAYEDA – PARVATHY BAUL – RAMESHWAR BROOTA – RANBIR KALEKA – SANTOSH KUMAR DAS- SUDIPTA DAS – VENKAT SHYAM – WASWO X WASWO & VIJAY
Exhibition Design: Reha Sodhi
You can see the exhibition and artworks online here or download the exhibition catalogue here
Puneeta Roy, Managing Trustee of The Yuva Ekta Foundation says of the event:
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“As the nodal agency chosen to represent India, we were naturally concerned about the migrant exodus so deeply etched in all our minds. We decided that with each of the seven Valleys of the Poem – the Valleys of the Quest, Love, Understanding, Independence & Detachment, Unity, Astonishment & Bewilderment and the Valley of Enlightenment, we would go on a journey to explore how marginalised communities in India survived the pandemic and use the Arts to express their learnings and the way forward.
Starting with Bassi Village in Rajasthan, many of our Valleys took us back to Rural India – the Patachitra Artists in Naya, Pingla, West Bengal, the Warli tribe in Dahanu, Maharashtra, the Adivasis in Banswara, Rajasthan, strengthening our conviction that a lot of our healing lies in re-energizing our connection with Mother Nature.​
Exploring different Art forms, I was keen to bring a couple of Visual Artists on board for this project. I had a couple of meetings with Anubhav in April this year and as I took him through the different Valleys, he was excited and asked whether we could look at creating an Art Exhibition around the theme, that included indigenous as well as contemporary urban artists. The possibilities were mind blowing and not only was I excited, Simon & Erica were over the moon by this development!
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This was how this partnership began. Anubhav drew up a list of artists we could ask to participate in the exhibition, we sat together to match them to the appropriate Valleys and each of us continued to work in our area of expertise. When the exhibition opened on the 22nd, I was overwhelmed to see the brilliant artworks on display! Each artist has contributed a stunning piece/s of work and the Gallery is pulsating with a new energy at the moment.”