Artasa P-artof clailylife

Thirteen-year-old twins KR/THI and BHUVI RAJ gain an understanding of the art ofthe Gonds, one of India's many Indigenous people, at theArt Gallery ofSA

TheArrGallery of South Australia held alotof surprises when we wentthereon7June.Wecame afterweheardaboutSTART-the ArtGallery'schildren'sprogram every firstSunday of themonth.We also heardthatthis Sundayirwas aboutIndian Goodpaintings.So wethoughta visitcothe Arc Gallery toseethesespecialpaintings wouldbegoodandtheremay besome od1eractivities aswell.

What wesaw blew usaway!There was a really goodspecialguidedtour explaining thepaintings with simplestories (aimedat 3-12year olds) but also helpingthechildren understandand appreciated1epaintings in simplelanguage.Outsideinthecourtyard marquees andcableshadbeenputupand a lotof effortput into decoratingthe areato look Indian- scarves, sarees,silkcushions, figurinesetc-you knowd1elook!Butit wasreallygood toseetheseaddtothelive performanceshappeningthere. Firstwe watcheda groupof tribalbellydancers who hadsomeBollywoodmoves as well.They also had adrumanddance workshop where kidscouldlearn somemovesandrhythms itreally meansindigenous people.TheGondpeople arefromMadhyaPradesh andit istheLargesttribein CentralIndia.They have alwaysdecorated thewalls andAoorsof theirhomes withpaintings.They believe that theirartis aneveryday expressionof theirlifeand alsothat if youlookata good image,itbringsyou goodluck.Theirtraditional artlookssimpleatfirst glance,butisveryintricate andhas aInt of meaning and depth.

Ourfavouriteswere Ganeshaby PrasadSing Kusram andTl'eeefLift by RajendraKumar Singh Shyam.This depicteda coweringMahuatree, whichis reveredbytheGonds,very intricately and elaborately.The centre-piecewasSoming EaglesbyBaluJirya Mashewhich wasquite modernincomparisonandhaddozens of passing overhead.JangarhSinghShyam is considered thegreatpioneer of contemporaryGondartandwasthe firstGond artist whose exhibitions won accoladesinParis,Londonandaround

TheGondpaintingexhibition isstillon until8November InJuly,STARTisabout TreamreShips,thenewexhibitionabout'Art inthe Ageof Spices\This willbethefuse exhibitioninAustraliatopresentthe artistic andalso dress upin dupattas, beads,bindis, turbans,moustaches etc.Andd1end1ere wasalovely sitar recitalbySimonGill,vith Raj onthe tabla.There was alsocoloming and arractivities andmehendi-inspired body art atcbe tablesaround theperformance area.

However,thepaintingswere whattook d1ecake!They werereallyunique.We were amazedatthesimilarities withAboriginal paintings withtheuseof docsanddashes andthe intricatedetail.Even mough we caUthem atribalcommunity,wesuppose eaglesAyinginaspiralformation.They seemedtobe Ayingoucwardsand Helen Bnlis, d1eguide, said that lookingat the paintingoften helpedpeople look atthe big pictureor 'fly upand outwards' andfeel less stressed anddepressed.Butshe alsosaid thatit madeherfeel dizzy!!

Anotherinterestingonewas Tigerand Aeropl"ne byJangarh Singh Shyam.This wasquitea contemporary oneamidst the depictionsof godsandgoddesses andtraditionalmotifs. ltdepictedatiger, cowand birdsgazing upatanaeroplane the world.Unfortunately hediedquite youngat39.Thispainting issaidto bethe firstdepictionof an aeroplaneina Gond painting,whichhe madetodescribe to his family hisexperiencesonatrip coJapan. Therewasalsoaveryinterestingancient woodensculpture-Mqy11rnsh1v,1raGa11esha -fromMaharashtraintheHall. Wehad neverseenGaneshonapeacockbefore andit lookedliketribal arttoo. All in all, with guidedtours,storytelling, artactivities, liveperformances andentertainment(andall freetoo!)itwasa veryenjoyableafternoon. andculturalinteractionsbetweenEurope and Asia fromthe16th to 19thcenturies -aperiodknown astheAgeof Spices. Along with paintings,rarely-seen works of ceramics,decorative arts,mecalware, andprints arepartof the exhibition anda highlight wiU be adiverse rangeof Christian artwork created atportssuch asGoa on loan fromPortugal andIndia. Wethinkwemay begoingcod1isone tool WiththankstoKrithiandBhwvi's mum,VinayaRai