Crafts / Gond Art

Gond Art

State: Madhya Pradesh
Material: Natural colour · Paper
Rarity: Popular

Every animal vibrates with dots and lines

About

Bright paintings of animals, trees and deities filled with fine dots and lines, from the Pardhan Gonds of Madhya Pradesh.

Gond painting is the art of the Gond people of central India, and especially of the Pardhan Gonds of Madhya Pradesh. Its best-known form today is paintings on paper and canvas in which animals, birds, trees and deities are filled with dense patterns of dots, dashes, lines and hatching. The patterns make each figure look as if it is vibrating with life.

The Pardhans are traditionally bards, singers, musicians and storytellers of the Gonds. Gond women also practise decorative arts called dighna and chowka, drawn on the floors and walls of homes as a mixture of ritual, creativity and celebration. Painting auspicious designs on walls was part of Pardhan life, and in the 1980s it grew into a contemporary art.

Gond paintings are made today by many artists, including families who trace their style to the painter Jangarh Singh Shyam. The style is sometimes called Jangarh Kalam, after him. Typical subjects are trees of life, tigers, deer, birds, fish, snakes, and Gond deities and stories.

How it’s made

Traditional Gond wall art starts with a prepared wall or floor. Women clean and smooth the surface, often with mud, and draw patterns, such as dighna and chowka, with natural pigments in black, deep red, white and ochre. Modern Gond paintings are made on paper, handmade paper or canvas.

The painter first draws the outline of a subject such as a tree, a tiger or a bird. The outline is often drawn in pencil or with a thin brush and is then filled in. The body is divided into sections, and each section is filled with its own pattern: rows of dots, short dashes, curved lines, scales, feathers or cross-hatching. The dots and dashes get finer and more intricate as the artist's skill develops.

Colour is applied in flat, bright blocks, using acrylics, poster colours or natural pigments, often with a contrasting background. The final step is to draw fine detail with a thin brush or pen, add outlines and highlights, and sometimes a decorative border. The dots are inspired by tattoos, and a Gond tale explains that the first patterns came from a woman who covered her body in tattoos.

Key features

Figures of animals, birds, trees and deities
Filled with fine patterns of dots, dashes, lines and hatching
Flat, bright colours, often on a contrasting background
Traditional wall and floor art called dighna and chowka
Made by the Pardhan Gond community of Madhya Pradesh
The modern style is known as Jangarh Kalam
Natural pigments: black, deep red, white and ochre

History

Gond art comes from the culture of the Gonds, one of the largest tribal peoples of India, who in earlier centuries had several kingdoms in the region that came to be called Gondwana. The Pardhan community were traditionally musicians and storytellers who received patronage from the Gond rajas. With the weakening of that patronage, many Pardhans turned to farming and labour.

Pardhan homes had wall paintings and floor designs made on occasions such as festivals. The turning point came in the early 1980s. Jangarh Singh Shyam, born in 1962 into a Pardhan Gond family in Patangarh village, was noticed by talent scouts of the Bharat Bhavan museum in Bhopal in 1981 and encouraged by its first director, the artist J. Swaminathan. He moved to Bhopal and became one of the first Gond artists to paint on paper and canvas. His work was shown in India and internationally, and his style, with lines of coloured dots inspired by Gond tattoos, became known as Jangarh Kalam.

His house in Bhopal became a hub for other Pardhan artists who moved to the city, and many of his relatives and followers became painters. Today Gond art is a major contemporary tribal art tradition of India, and artists work on paper, canvas, walls and objects. Some critics argue that the term tribal art can limit these artists and prefer to speak of individual artists' styles.

Facts

Pardhan Bards who became painters. The Pardhans are traditionally bards, singers and musicians of the Gonds, and from the 1980s many became painters.
Jangarh Kalam A new school of art. Jangarh Singh Shyam was among the first Gond artists to use paper and canvas, and his style is called Jangarh Kalam.
Tattoo dots Dots from tattoos. The lines and dots in Gond paintings are inspired by the tattoos that are part of Gond life.
Dighna & chowka Floor and wall art. Gond women draw decorative floor and wall designs called dighna and chowka as a mix of ritual, creativity and celebration.

Market

Paintings, prints and gifts

Gond paintings are sold as framed works on paper and canvas, through galleries, craft emporia and online, and as smaller items such as bookmarks, cards, notebooks and fabrics. Printed copies are common. Original works show hand-drawn dots and uneven lines; artists' names are usually written on the paintings.

Sustainability

Paper, paint and an artists' community

Gond art uses paper, canvas and paints, and traditional natural pigments such as charcoal and earth colours are low-impact. The strongest support for its sustainability is buying original works and paying artists fairly, since many artists belong to communities that have lost traditional patronage.

Products

Paintings on paper and canvas: The main form of contemporary Gond art
Wall murals: Painted on walls of homes and public buildings
Bookmarks and greeting cards: Small paper pieces in Gond style
Notebooks and fabrics: Gond designs on stationery and textiles

Words to know

Pardhan: The Gond sub-community of bards and musicians, many of whom are painters.
Jangarh Kalam: The style of Jangarh Singh Shyam and the school of artists after him.
Dighna and chowka: Floor and wall designs drawn by Gond women.
Bada Deo: The high god of the Gonds.
Hatching: Filling an area with fine parallel lines.

Try it yourself

Gond Animal Pattern Sketch · Beginner · 30 - 60 mins
Gond Art Bookmark · Intermediate · 45 - 90 mins