The artists featured in the APT8 project Kalpa Vriksha: Contemporary Indigenous and Vernacular Art of India come from small and diverse communities in India — some indigenous, others rural and remote — with each known for its artistic traditions, unique histories and visual languages. This focus project within the exhibition investigates how ancient techniques and subjects are still being used and how they’ve evolved and become instrumental in the expression of contemporary concerns. Concentrating on a small group of younger-generation artists, Kalpa Vriksha incorporates narratives of spiritual and historical significance as well as those of everyday life, through a range of paintings and sculptures that draw on the traditions of Warli, Gond, Mithila, Kalighat, Chitrakar and Rajwar peoples.
‘Kalpa Vriksha’ (kul-pa vrik-sha) is a Sanskrit term for a divine or wish-fulfilling tree. The tree is part of a scripture describing the creation of the earth. There are also numerous real trees that exist across India designated as sacred kalpavrishkas, and changing form depending on their location — such trees can variously be a coconut, banyan, mulberry or boab. The kalpavrishka’s capacity to cross the boundaries of the vernacular and the mythical, ancient and contemporary, as well as its diverse geographical manifestations, makes it an appropriate metaphor for the works in this special exhibition project.
Artists Balu Ladkya Dumada and Rajesh Chaitya Vangad belong to the Warli people, who are known for paintings constructed of white lines and geometric forms that convey the significance or movement of people, animals, deities and local flora. Dumada specialises in painting local folk stories, while Vangad’s broader projects have included public art murals and initiatives aimed at increasing attendance in local schools.
The Gonds are one of the largest groups of indigenous peoples of India. Their artworks were traditionally made for dwellings and are characterised by animistic themes and intricate patterning. Venkat Raman Singh Shyam is the nephew of the renowned late Jangarh Singh Shyam, and he continues to experiment with and extend the Gond motifs and subjects.
Pushpa Kumari is a Madhubani or Mithila artist, whose art is traditionally practised by women in the Mithila region. Kumari was taught by her grandmother, Mahasundari Devi, one of the first Mithila artists to work on paper, and addresses themes often relevant to contemporary women, such as female infanticide, dowry deaths, sexuality, and stories of love and union from the Ramayana.
The Chitrakar (‘picture makers’) community in West Bengal creates long, brightly coloured scroll paintings, known as pats or patachitra, which are intimately bound up with itinerant storytelling and song. Six patua artists will feature in the exhibition, with works addressing contemporary history and social issues as well as tales from Hindu scriptures. Kalam Patua was born into this community but taught himself the Kalighat style of watercolour painting, its conventions taken from scroll paintings and miniature painting but focusing on single scenes rather than framed narratives, and often with a satirical, autobiographical or social dimension.
Another group of artists from the Rajwar community of Surguja in the state of Madhya Pradesh will present a set of figurative sculptural and architectural clay works for the exhibition. This sculptural practice is often credited to the innovation of one artist, Sonabai (c.1930–2007), whose work was shown in APT3 in 1999. For APT8, her son, Daroga Ram, and three other artists will exhibit sculptural works to represent this unique art form and demonstrate how it has continued to grow, diversify and inspire.
