Project Warli

WARLI

The Art

Warli paintings, have originated out of the life and rituals of the Warli tribe. This simple yet vivid painting style is believed to have originated sometime around the tenth century A.D. However, considering its simplicity in form and figure, it can be assumed to be dating back to the Neolithic period between 2,500 BC and 3,000 BC. Warli paintings express everyday life using extremely basic object forms and just one color - white - on a sober mud base. The appeal of these unicolor compositions with elementary object forms lies in their lack of pretentiousness in conveying the profound. Each painting is usually an entire scene that contains various elements of nature including people, animals, trees, hills etc. Decorative patterns inspired by nature are also used. The themes are often repetitive and symbolic in nature. Warli Unlike any other school of painting does not use mythical or religious iconography. Rather it rejoices in the celebration of simple folk life and its mundane customs.

The tribe

Dahanu, (Maharashtra) happens to be one of the very few remaining habitats of the Warli tribe. The Warlis who number about 300,000 in populations in Dahanu taluka own only 45,000 acres of land of the total acreage. They are mostly marginal and landless laborers and work in the commercial fruit orchards of the prosperous farmers in the region, or in brick kilns in nearby towns. The Warlis remain quite unassimilated from the rest of India; they maintain their own dress style, customs, religion and ceremonies. They have gained recognition only for their unique work of art, known the world over as Warli Painting.

The artist
Jayesh, a 16 year old boy, is very shy and speaks through his paintings. He keeps on drawing paintings for hours and hours. He got introduced to Warli art through his family. He has developed his skills because of encouragement from school and professional training provided from them. He is an aspiring candidate for Elementary examination of Drawing and wants to be a renowned Warli artist.


Jayesh displaying the painting, alongside SIMSR students

The Nareshwadi Residential School

The GVPM School is located on a 270-acre campus. It provides free schooling and residential facilities for the tribal children who come from villages as far as 25 kms. It runs from class 1 through 10 (secondary school) and has 13 trained teachers. The GVPM has introduced several initiatives towards child-centered learning and ensures an integrated approach incorporating classroom curriculum with exposure to agriculture, horticulture, dairy and promotion of the indigenous Warli Art through daily activities embedded in the time-table.

Somaiya Social Cell (SIMSR)

The initiative by the Social cell of SIMSR (Somaiya) is playing the role of a catalyst. It has exposed the skills of Jayesh - the painter to the outside world. The money collected from this painting will be used for further education of Jayesh and to fulfill his dreams of being a Warli artist by providing him the best available training and exposure.

One of the paintings sold by the students

Girivanavasi Pragati Mandal

Girivanavasi Pragati Mandal (GVPM) was established on September 20 1974 by Padmabhushan Shri Karamshibhai J. Somaiya (May 16 1902-May 09 1999) with the objective of setting up an integrated rural development model of education, health, agricultural development and economic self-reliance for the tribal community in the Dundhalwadi area (about 120 kms. from Mumbai) of Dahanu Taluka, Thane District in Maharashtra. The area where the project operates is called Nareshwadi. It is recognized as a voluntary organization by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India and is a registered Public Charitable Trust; registered with the Sub-Registrar of New Delhi, (Registration No. 4431 dated 27th September 1974).