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In a country where art is typically approached with a pre-set notion of being obscure and remote, India’s indigenous arts and crafts remain veiled in mystery. Characterised by stylised figures, flat renderings, repetitive motifs, and themes immersed in ritual, religion, and festivity, they encapsulate and celebrate the traditions and way of living of India’s numerous communities. The most well-known of these arts include Warli, Gond, Saura,... In a country where art is typically approached with a pre-set notion of being obscure and remote, India’s indigenous arts and crafts remain veiled in mystery. Characterised by stylised figures, flat renderings, repetitive motifs, and themes immersed in ritual, religion, and festivity, they encapsulate and celebrate the traditions and way of living of India’s numerous communities. The most well-known of these arts include Warli, Gond, Saura, Madhubani or Mithila, Bengal scrolls, and Kalighat pats. They would be usually undertaken by one community, so they assumed a location or tribe-based identity. Traditionally, communities worked within limitations, using only what was available at the time. One can tell how laborious and time-consuming they are from their intricate details. Until the 20th century, they were restricted to very specific occasions, usually religious and celebratory, and were infused with a unique significance.

Jivya Soma Mashe is one of the most widely recognised names in the centuries-old tradition of Warli painting, which is primarily practised by the natives of the Northern Sahyadri mountains. He was the first to step beyond the borders of practising Warli as an art form restricted to rituals. Mashe not only painted on a regular basis, but also switched to using paper and canvas as opposed to following the tradition of practising the artform on mud walls. As a result, the ephemeral nature of wall art was transformed into a more permanent and personal style.

Mashe’s art was inspired by folklore and stories of celebration that are narrated to the children in his tribe from a very early age. His images were based on simple forms that keep with Warli figuration, such as the circle borrowed from the moon and sun, the triangle borrowed from mountains and trees, and the square, which has no natural equivalent and is therefore used to symbolise sacred enclosures. Human bodies are represented with two triangles, which are given an extraordinary quality of life and movement. The composition of a scene in Warli art is based on providing a clear coherence and order while expressing the belief that life is in constant and cyclical motion. There is no linear timeline for events. The trees, crops, abodes, and humans who inhabit and animate the world are in harmony with the cosmos, which provides a divine order.

Herve Perdriolle, a French gallerist and curator who spent some time with the artist says, “When we look carefully at Jivya Soma Mashe’s paintings, we are particularly struck by the movement, the quality of the details, lightness, and simultaneously the precision of the stroke. There is no hesitation in his works. As seen in every detail, he goes directly to the essence in both the design and composition with the natural simplicity of the ingenue. The teeming profusion of strokes, lines, and dots on the canvas vibrate with energy, constructing skilled compositions that themselves reinforce the dynamism of the whole... The themes that recur in his production — such as the daily activities of his family and the legends of the Warli — are also pretexts for a constant eulogy to movement.” (Herve Perdriolle, Indian Art: Contemporary, One World, Several Worlds, Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2012, p. 123)

Mashe has received much international acclaim both in India, and internationally. In 1974, he met Bhaskar Kulkarni, an artist who brought his art to the attention of galleries in Mumbai. Mashe’s first solo exhibition was held at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai in 1975. He represented India at the show Magicians of the Earth at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 1989, along with Gond artist Jangarh Singh Shyam. Both artists’ works were featured in the exhibition Other Masters of India, curated by Jyotinder Jain, at the Musee du Quai Branly in Paris in 2010.

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