Warli Art: A journey from Tradition to Modernity

Warli art, originating in Maharashtra, India’s North Sahyadri range, is a traditional tribal art renowned for its use of basic geometric shapes and representations of everyday life and natural world. Immersed in the folk-art legacy of ancient India, Warli paintings offer a singular view into the history, culture, and creative expression of the Warli tribe of Maharashtra.  The Warli people, one of India’s largest tribes located near Mumbai, maintain a deep connection with nature, evident in the centrality of natural elements in their paintings.

Origin of Warli Art

Warli art has roots dating back to 2500 to 3000 BCE, as evidence by its artistic similarities to prehistoric cave painting. However, it rose prominence in the late 1970s when artist  Jivya Soma Mashe adopted it as a daily art form, expanding beyond its traditional boundaries. Centered on the concept of mother nature, Warli art is considered as one of the oldest art forms of India.

Jivya Soma Mashe at work in front of his house, 2009. Photo by Romain Mounier-Poulat via Wikipedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-4.0).

Decoding Warli

Warli art form is highly symbolic containing figures, and each figure has its own significance and understanding. These paintings are generally made using a set of shapes- a circle, a triangle, and a square. These shapes are considered to be symbolic of different elements found in nature which are-

• The circle represents the sun and the moon
• The triangle represents mountains and conical trees
• The square is a human invention depicting a sacred enclosure or a piece of land. The central motif in ritual painting is a square known as the “chauk” or “chaukat”.

The paintings are created using basic equipment and materials such as handmade paper, steel plates, pencils, paint brushes, erasers, acrylic colors, and tables. The approach involves sketching themes and human figures with interwoven triangles, emphasizing their dancing.

Understanding motifs

There are mainly two types of Warli paintings-

• Ritualistic paintings which involve figures and symbols which connect to sacred deity

Art showcasing worship of God through dance and music

• Non-ritualistic paintings which are done for decorative and other social purposes. Artists typically portray scenes of agriculture, festivals, and other social activities.

Image Courtesy: Sagar Yende and Prof. Ravi Poovaiah IDC, IIT Bombay.

Image Courtesy: Sagar Yende and Prof. Ravi Poovaiah IDC, IIT Bombay. Art showcasing daily household work.

Commonly used motifs in traditional Warli art:

                                        Exotic India Art

• Human figures: It is the central motifs in a Warli painting highlighting them engaged in varieties of activities such as fishing, farming, dancing, and hunting. These figures are depicted by two triangles joint together at tip. Male figures are represented by a bunch of hairs whereas the female figures are distinguished by hairstyles using the “Ambada” motif in circular pattern.

Difference between men and women in Warli art

• Animals: Animals are the prominent motifs in Warli paintings and are portrayed using simple geometric shapes. For instance, peacocks are depicted as a circular or oval-shaped body with a long neck. A cow is drawn as having a rectangular body with its leg in the shape of short lines.
• Trees and plants: They are often depicted with minimal details such as lines and curves. Leaves are drawn as simple linear strokes attached to the branch of the tree.

• Marriage ceremony: The marriage ceremony in a Warli painting holds immense significance. In this painting, a married paint the marriage chowk on the wall with intricate patterns and the geometrical shapes. There are two types of marriage chowk: Lagna chowk (for marriage ceremonies) and Dev chowk (for Nature as God). These chowks are believed to protect the married couple from evil spirits.

                                                                  Tapra Instrument

• The Tapra dance: The Tapra dance is the lively dance form of the Warli community and is an integral part of their cultural heritage. Tapra is kind of a musical instrument which is played during the dance and is depicted in the painting as a long, cylindrical tube with a flared end.

Warli in contemporary era

Traditional Warli painting was not widely known at first, but in the 1970s, painters such as Jivya Soma Mashe and his son Balu Mashe brought about a dramatic change. With a campaign called Come Home on Deepawali,” Coca-Cola India celebrated traditional culture and encouraged youth unity by showcasing Warli paintings. The art become the monument to continuous innovation, originality, and flexibility within the artistic heritage. This art form is now become very popular particularly among fashion designers and home decor firms. It started with huts and has spread to our garments. This is a step in educating the public about the arts and helping them comprehend the diverse folk and tribal forms found throughout India.

                  Coca-cola using Warli Art

Warli Art will continue to evolve, adapting to contemporary sensibilities and captivating a wider audience. This art form is not only a visual representation of tribal stories, but also serve as link between traditional and modern artistic expression which will remain an essential component of the cultural legacy of India.