Art on the wall

Jamuna Inamdar

Walls are among the first and oldest canvasses used by humans for their creative expressions. Had the wandering Homo Sapiens not put that dot on the walls of caves, there is little chance we would have the magnificent legacy of breathtaking wall art and even less chance we would be participating in the making and admiring of it! In several cities across the world today, under flyovers, in bylanes, on busy main roads, on walls lining railway tracks, inside subways, on buildings and bridges, one encounters a range of art work. Some require you to crane your neck, some you can behold only from afar – such is its scale, some are jaw dropping in their perspective, their treatment, some truly make a space come alive and some make you wonder if the place was better without it! It is diverse in its styles, treatments, themes and locations, and serves as a fantastic reflection of our times.

Activity
Do you remember seeing a piece of wall art in the city you live? Conduct a survey of your immediate environment and see if there are any. You can
• Find out who made it.
• Interview the group/artist(s) who painted it.
• Think about ways of classifying the different works.

India abounds in examples of wall paintings. In fact, in several states of the Indian subcontinent are found some of the oldest examples of wall art dating back to prehistoric times. Let us get to know this art form a bit more, the first evidence of which was found in caves used for shelter by wandering humans. This is followed by more settled communities using walls to paint on, introducing varied themes into their paintings showing greater regional and community based diversity along with an expansion of surfaces, mediums and themes.

The beginning
Humans hadn’t quite settled down, being wanderers and hunter gatherers with no human made homes or farms or farm equipment. Even at this primitive stage of existence, what they had and what is evident on the cave walls they inhabited, is their will to form! They found a way of expressing their strong relationship with nature and life as it happened around them. They started depicting several ‘scenes’ from their everyday life on the cave walls.

Using whatever was available to them, they created works, many of which withstood the ravages of time, thus, becoming invaluable sources of information about the life and times of humans from the Mesolithic period and onwards. Mostly twigs, fingers, palms, bones, etc., were used to paint. Colour shades such as dark red, scarlet, brownish red, bright red, occasionally yellow and green, white, charcoal black, etc., are seen. The paintings that materialized were mostly single and dual coloured. Blue, however, is said to be totally absent from the rock paintings of this stage.

There are said to be 1,500 rock paintings scattered across roughly 150 sites in India! Some of the locations are Sohagighat and Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh and Chakradharpur in the Singbhoom district of Orissa. Raichur, Bellary, Gulbarga, Bijapur districts in Karnataka. Several rock paintings are concentrated in Madhya Pradesh, inside the rock shelters and caves of the Vindhya, Mahadeo and Kaimur ranges. Banda, Bastar, Bhopal, Chamba, Chhindwara, Chhatarpur, Gwalior, Hoshangabad, Jabalpur, Mandsaur, Morena, Narsimhapur, Raisen, etc. Bhimbetka is one of the oldest known sites of rock paintings in India, situated in the Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh. Although labelled as ‘primitive’, ‘prehistoric’ and ‘archaic’, it serves as the earliest example of man’s expression and hence considered ‘classic.’

A very strong awareness of and connection to one’s surroundings is evident in the cave paintings. Some common themes observed in the paintings included scenes of family, of father and son, women, hunting scenes, chase between wild animals like a rhinoceros and a stag, depictions of forests full of animals sometimes fallen prey to hunters, horse and elephant and bull riders, etc. In Bhimbetka one comes across a rock painting showing a baby deer in its mother’s womb and birth of a baby from the mother’s womb. Although not very detailed, these paintings successfully represent rhythm, movement and action.

Activity
Make a scrapbook: On a map of India, mark the states where sites of historical wall paintings are located. You could mention more than the ones in the previous paragraph.

Acquire pictures of as many paintings/sites as possible. Look at the paintings, make a note of what you see in them. Try to find information about which people lived and painted there. Write a story or a skit of a day in the life of these humans.

Beyond the beginning
A strong affinity has been observed between earlier rock paintings and later folk/tribal art, due to the latter’s simple and direct style with minimal use of colour. Folk and tribal art forms clearly represent that sequential development in the lifestyle of humans as they turned from being wanderers and hunter gatherers to a species that indulged in pastoral activities and agriculture, choosing to live in settlements.

Some tribal communities of India are the Gonds, Bhils, Oraon, Santhals, Saharias, Warli, Saora, Muria, Pradhan, etc. Each has a distinct and popular style of painting. These tribes started adorning the walls of their homes for various reasons such as beliefs that wall paintings brought peace and harmony. Paintings were also made to depict their traditions, history, folklore and one could also find a presence of mystical and imaginative themes. Religious themes such as appeasement of various Gods and forces of nature, paying homage to Gods, expressing gratitude to Gods and forces of nature are also a recurrent theme.

Paintings of the Gonds
The Gond tribe, decorated huts and homes with Bhittichitras (wall paintings) and Digna paintings (geometrical patterns), a practice that sprung from the community belief that “viewing a good image begets good luck”.

Activity

Undertake some research to find out more about Gond paintings. What are the important themes in their paintings? Gonds use natural resources to make art with. Find out what natural materials they use as colours. And what about the brushes they use to paint with? Are they the regular paint brushes you and I use?

The Madhubani Paintings of Bihar
Mithila paintings or Madhubani paintings, as they are popularly known, are a centuries old folk art form of the Mithila region of Bihar. The stories of its origin are varied, difficult to attest and rooted in mythology. It is said that Tulsidas, a 16^th century Bhakti poet, in his magnum opus, the Ramcharitamanasa (literally, the lake of Lord Rama’s deeds), makes a reference to Lord Siva’s wife Gauri/Parvati as having first made a painting of this nature for the wedding of Sita and Rama.

On observing the paintings, one finds a constant and generous depiction of flowers, trees as well as a variety of animals especially fish, peacock, parrots, elephants, birds, turtles, etc. The inspiration that this art form and its artists draw from nature is strongly evident in the paintings. A student or viewer of Mithila painting is additionally informed of the cultural knowledge – the rituals, traditions, festivals and ceremonies of the Maithils, the people of Mithila. This art form, in a manner characteristic of any folk art, is inseparable from the daily lives and living of the people who make it. All these factors make Mithila art what it is and help it acquire a ‘distinct regional identification’.

Mithila paintings are mostly practiced by women and many women come together in the making of a single painting, usually led by the more experienced/senior woman of the household. This form of painting could have very well served in the ‘education’ of young girls as they learned about age-old folk stories, rituals, traditions, other culturally significant knowledge like utilization of the surrounding natural material in order to make art, intricate and geometric renditions of various themes ranging from tantric symbols to their own emotional world to folk lore to the socially relevant issues in the world around them. Mithila paintings abound in a wide range of themes – from symbols of fertility and those ensuring healthy, fulfilling married lives to the depiction of stories of brides and grooms, Gods and Goddesses and other mythical characters to daily village life lived by various castes to practiced rituals and traditions to social issues like bride burning/migration/female infanticide and much more, although this theme came much later.

A distinct quality of all folk/tribal art was how it was never created for pleasure alone. It was always meant to be a community effort, senior members leading the way, while the younger members of the tribe or community learned the art along with stories, the community’s beliefs, rituals and traditions. Members who painted walls weren’t ‘artists’ but common men and women and everybody expressed, recorded, documented or attempted to make their surroundings beautiful through these paintings. These paintings were examples of group cohesiveness rather than of individual expression.

In present times the canvas for these original wall painting styles has changed from walls to paper, cloth and several other surfaces. This has helped make the art more accessible to connoisseurs the world over but it has changed the fundamental purpose the art served in the first place. When an art form created by a community, specifically in relation to the everyday lives lived by its people, is transferred from wall to paper, it becomes more an individual rendition than a collective effort. There is now a ‘consumer’ who is the audience or buyer of this art form and her tastes and needs and demands of the market exert a strong influence on how the art is rendered. Several tribal and folk art forms have gone through a sea change under these circumstances, some for the better some not!

In rural parts of the country, one can still catch a glimpse of the above style of paintings, done with the original purpose in mind, although the practice is now on the decline. But what happens in cities? After all they too are populated by humans with a similar creative urge, the will to form? How does it manifest in an urban landscape? Urban inhabitants too have found a way to keep using walls as a canvas. What are the themes that are evident in wall paintings in a city? Who paints them? What influences or inspires it? Let us find out more….

The Wall Art Project: The wall project started with a blank white compound wall, with an intense desire to use it to make things better. From there, it became an initiative to add visual elements of colour, form and texture to a city space, to make parts of a city come alive and generate a pleasant feeling among its residents, along with a feeling of ‘coming together’, among its inhabitants who collectively went on to paint several areas. This process was aimed at making one more observant about the spaces used by dwellers everyday, of their lives and how art forms can help generate that mindfulness, create a visual or communication which stays in people’s mind making them smile, laugh, cry, etc.

The first wall painted was a private wall of Gonsalves House on Bazar road, Bandra followed by “The great wall of Mumbai” in 2009 – a project on Tulsi pipe road – encouraged by Additional Municipal Commissioner, BMC. Around 400 people of all ages joined in to bring alive a city space. For more information read http://www.thewallproject.com/.

The Fearless Collective: This collective includes artists, activists, photographers and filmmakers and members of local communities, who use art to speak against gender violence. It was formed in response to the horrific gang rape that took place in Delhi in December 2012, to attempt to redefine fear. It encourages the participation of people in order to create spaces in their immediate locality that help move away from fear, towards love. The exquisite wall paintings by this collective are inspired by people-led narratives, personal histories, cultural and political realities and stories of universal resilience. Each of their projects strives to champion love over fear, abundance over scarcity, compassion over defence. Read more here https://fearlesscollective.org/.

Madhubani Railway Station: In October 2017, over 100 Madhubani artists from areas in and around Madhubani came together to paint the walls of the Madhubani railway station resulting in a breathtaking makeover of a public space, one of the busiest. The railway station was even declared the second best at an all India railway station beautification drive launched by the railway ministry. Over 160 paintings adorn the railway station that are not only a source of visual pleasure but also a beautiful peek into Mithila culture – its beliefs, celebrations, rituals and traditions. The same group of artists later went on to paint other public spaces in Madhubani thus bringing the very vibrant and globally popular art form back in the everyday lives of people.

Did you Know?
Banksy is an anonymous England-based street artist whose artworks are mostly satirical, hard-hitting commentaries on social and political themes such as war, consumerism, fascism, imperialism, authoritarianism, anarchism. Banksy displays his art on publicly visible surfaces such as walls and self-built physical prop pieces. Banksy is arguably the most controversial street artist in the world whose identity remains unknown, even after over 20 years of being involved with the graffiti scene. Know more http://www.banksy.co.uk/.
(Credit: Wiki.Streetartbio.com)

Activity
Speak to your friends/friendly adults about whether street art is desirable? Explore questions such as: Does it appear forced on people who might not want to see it every day? Under what circumstances is this kind of art acceptable? Under what circumstances is it not? How is it different from the wall paintings of rural folk/tribal communities?

Skills required for painting walls
Do you think the making of wall art needs special skills? It needs strong legs, shoulders, neck and arms for sure. Wall paintings often bring forth the organic relation of the art, artist and the physical space/surface on which the art is made, being in conformance with the structural make of a wall. The artist must be capable of pictorially imagining a social, religious, or patriotic theme on the appropriate scale. The artist’s sense of colour, proportion, and thematic treatment can bring about a drastic change in the way a building, a corner, a wall is experienced by viewers, passerbys. It can either make that tiny corner of a city visually pleasing, can make a person smile or make her feel good or it could make the space look congested, dark and generally unpleasant. Given that any street art has a broad public significance, the responsibility on an artist is that much more.

Activity
Would you like to paint your own piece of a wall? Here are some tips/dos and don’ts.

1. Identify a location. Does it require permission to paint on? If yes, please do not proceed without acquiring it. If not, paint away.
2. Exercise. Not just your imagination but also your back, shoulders, neck and arms.
3. Get to know the piece of wall. Observe it through different times of the day for shadows, and light. Touch it. Take into account its surroundings. What is the wall a part of? Is there a crack on it? Is there a pipe jutting out of it? Does it house a window?
4. What would you like to paint?
5. Take into account what you know about the wall, when the sketch starts to build in your head. Include the wall’s texture, elements in your design.
6. Will you need to prepare the wall for painting? Wash it? Apply a coat of primer? Anything else?
7. And oh, wait, what season is it? Blazing hot summers? Torrential downpours? The weather is going to be your partner artist, working its own magic on your creation. That is the challenge. It is also the fun!
8. What paints to use? In some cases, it depends on whether you are painting a wall indoors or outdoors. Colour companies offer very generous guidelines. For example: www.asianpaints.com. Yes, wall paintings require tons of research.
9. Also, did I mention exercise? Don’t forget the exercise.
10. Always, always, start top down.
11. Keep moving away from your work after every small addition to get a sense of proportion and scale. The wall is several times bigger than one’s drawing sheet, remember?
12. And several other things that you will discover only when you start.

The art of wall paintings is evolving as I write this…. Today, I read about an artist who is creating massive street art using yarn! Who would have thought!