The Warli Project HEART:BEAT by DICRC

The Warli Project

HEART:BEAT Editors Rishav Jain | Jay Thakkar

Published by: Design Innovation and Craft Resource Centre (DICRC), CEPT University, Ahmedabad, India

Editors Rishav Jain | Jay Thakkar Researchers Saumya Sharma | Rahul Bhushan | Radha Devpura Introduction Barney Hare Duke

funded by Arts Council England as a part of the reimagine India programme 2017

This publication is dedicated to the team of The Warli Project | HEART:BEAT. This project is conceptualised by Barney Hare Duke. Design Innovation and Craft Resource Center (DICRC), CEPT University wishes to acknowledge all the participants, partners, collaborators and supporters of the project. Every effort has been made to acknowledge copyright owners wherever necessary, but the publishers would be pleased to have any errors or omissions brought to their attention so that corrections may be published at a later printing.

Editors Rishav Jain and Jay Thakkar

Researchers Saumya Sharma l Rahul Bhushan l Radha Devpura

Published by Design Innovation and Craft Resource Center (DICRC) CEPT University Kasturbhai Lalbhai Campus, University Road Navrangpura, Ahmedabad 380 009. Gujarat, INDIA.

All Rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or published in any form or by any means including print, photocopying and word-processing or distributed in return for payment or by public lending without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and publisher. Subject to copyright laws. All quotations, reprints etc. must include a reference to the title of this publication. © 2017 Selection+Editorial Matter: DICRC

funded by Arts Council England as a part of the reimagine India programme 2017

DICRC (Design Innovation & Craft Research Center, CEPT University, Ahmedabad.

BCB (British Ceramics Biennial), UK

Art Council England, UK

A Fine Line Cultural Practice, UK

Manchester School Of Art, UK

Paramparik Karigar, India

Craft Revival Trust, India

Contents About About Heart:beat Partner Organisations Project Intentions Project context

Mapping Crafts and Crafts Practices Craft eco system in Bapugaon Process of Mapping Warli Painters Metal Forging Pottery Tarpa Making

Research on Warli Chowk Painting and Habitat Space Wedding Chowk Relationship between Habitat Space and Wedding Rituals

International Exchange Residency in Bapugaon Vision of Kendra Heart:beat Residency Residency Artists Field visits Collaborative installations

Commissioned Paintings Closing event at Bapugaon

Exhibitions Ahmedabad Stoke on trent Rochadale

Reflections

Introduction The HeartBeat project has grown out of the Warli Project which was initiated by A FINE LINE as part of a programme of international artists exchange. In 2017 the HeartBeat project was developed and devised by Barney Hare Duke, the Director of A FINE LINE and Artistic Director of the British Ceramics Biennial and Professor Stephen Dixon, Ceramic Artist and Head of the Craft Research Group at Manchester School of Art. A special funding programme set up by Arts Council England “re-Imagine India” to mark the 70th anniversary of independence of India and Pakistan provided the principal resources to fund the project. which included the core components; • An artists residency in Palghar district Maharastra which brought together team of 6 artists from the UK together with 6 from India and for two weeks. • A series of 10 Warli paintings based on the subject of “change” were commissioned by the project from 10 artists associated with the Warli project programme. • A sequence of exhibitions in india and UK which presented the the residency outcomes, commissioned paintings and new works developed through on-going exchange over the period of the project. Exhibitions were held in o Bapugaon Village, Maharastra o Kanoria Art Centre, Ahemedabad o Harley Gallery, Nottinghamshire o British Ceramics Biennial, Stoke-on-Trent

Touchstones Gallery, Rochdale

• o o o

Production of legacy publications including HeartBeat- project report HeartBeat – artists book HeartBeat – film and sound work (on-line)

In the initial stages of the project, partnership was developed with Jay Thakkar, an Associate Professor at Faculty of Design and Director of Design Innovation and Craft Resource Centre (DICRC) at CEPT University, Ahmedabad, India. This important partnership broadened the scope of the project to include preliminary fieldwork and a craft mapping exercise, with post-graduate research detailing traditional aspects of warli painting. Prof. Jay along with DICRC colleagues joined the residency production team in Palghar. DICRC were instrumental in hosting the Ahmedabad exhibition and providing all the interpretation graphics and documentation. DICRC have led on the editing, and production of the Heart:Beat – Project Report.

About the Project

Introduction to Heart:Beat The Heart:Beat project proposes a multi-disciplinary collaboration of music, digital media, clay-work, painting, land art, film and storytelling. It examines the tensions around India’s rapid urbanization from the diverse perspectives of ‘post- industrial’ Northern England and ‘preindustrial’ rural Maharashtra. Heart:Beat seeks to assert the value of located traditional arts/crafts work by reimagining the making process as a force within contemporary visual arts practice developed through international/intercultural creative dialogue and celebrated on local/ international platforms. The project aims to draw critical attention to the potentially detrimental effects of rapid urbanization on traditional lifestyles and cultural practices in India, using the particular example of the Warli tribal lands in rural Maharashtra as both location and inspiration. In order to achieve this aim, the project sought to: • Develop an experimental framework for international collaboration and cultural exchange between artists from India/England, using an innovative and expanded artist’s residency model.

• Bring together leading arts practitioners from India/ England, with experience of international residency/ exchange, to produce new collaborative artworks. • Explore a synthesis of digital/analogue processes, integrating digital sound works/film with more traditional visual arts practice. • Exhibit the creative outcome of the project widely, bringing new artworks to new audiences in both rural and urban locations in India/England. • Create opportunities for diasporic communities in England to engage with the artworks through outreach/ community engagement. • Provide the opportunity for the participating artists to develop new skills and perspectives through exposure to new cultural environments and shared creative practices. • Develop a lasting legacy for the project, though physical artworks, audio, film and a project publication, documenting the conceptual/developmental processes as well as the individual/collective project outcomes. • Build a sustainable legacy beyond the anniversary of independence and feeding into long-term plans for intercultural collaboration, connectivity and cultural trade.

Partner Organisations Heart:Beat is a partnership between artists, arts organisations, agencies and academic institutions from India and the UK. The British Ceramics Biennial is the lead organisation. Its Director has over ten years of experience in cultural exchange between England and India in the visual arts and crafts. The Warli Project Heart:Beat is funded by Arts Council England as part of the Reimagine India programme 2017. The Clay Foundation/ British Ceramics Biennial (UK) The British Ceramics Biennial (BCB) launched in 2009 is established as the UK’s leading ceramics festival celebrating and showcasing contemporary ceramics from across the world. Set in Stoke-on-Trent - the heart of the UK ceramics industry, the BCB actively seeks out innovation and platforms new ideas in clay. Manchester School of Art (UK) Based in the heart of Manchester, a vibrant and multicultural city, they are a pioneer of art and design education in the UK, celebrating their 175th Anniversary in 2013. As the second oldest design school in Britain, established to provide design training to the manufacturing industry.

Design Innovation and Craft Resource Centre (DICRC), CEPT University (India) DICRC functions as an research centre for the development and understanding of Indian Crafts (SMC – Space Making Crafts and Surface Narrative Crafts) of Traditional and Vernacular Buildings of India. A Fine Line (UK) A FINE LINE : cultural practice established asis a partnership between Jeremy Theophilus and Barney Hare Duke in 2004 to deliver a programme of international artists’ exchange residencies specialising in the exploration and expression of contemporary crafts practice. Paramparik Karigar (India) Paramparik Karigar an association of craftsmen was founded in 1996 with the assistance of Roshan Kalapesi. The idea was rooted by Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay when she was approached by a group of master craftsmen who wanted to form an organisation of their own. Paramparik’s principle aim of is to preserve and promote traditional art and craft of India The Craft Revival Trust (India) The Craft Revival Trust is a not-for-profit, non-government organisation dedicated to safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage (InCH) of the knowledge and practice of the traditional hand crafts, textiles, folk and tribal arts, As a current and open –source platform, the journal serves as a forum for advocacy and empowerment and is now widely acknowledged as a platform for change.

United Kingdom

India

Madhya Pradesh Gujarat

Bapugaon Maharashtra

Andhra Pradesh

Karnataka

Project context Warli tribe resides in the mountainous range of Sahyadri hills. Warli is an aboriginal tribe who are proficient in ploughing out roots and transplanting new trees in the forest. They are also involved rice farming as primary occupation. In Warli mythology, it is said that when god was creating mankind he gave Warlis a plough, thus, they became Kulami farmers. Warli speak their own language which is mixture of Khandeshi Bhili dialect and Marathi. They speak Gujarati and use Gujarati script. They also make use of Marathi words in their conversation. Their vocal language is blend of Gujarati and Marathi words.

Facing page (clockwise): World map showing the connection between United Kingdom and India; India map showing Maharashtra state; Maharashtra map showing the location of Bapugaon

Bapugaon is a village located in the Palghar district of Maharashtra and was the principal location for the artists residency , HeartBeat exhbition and event. Located 31 kms away from Dahanu taluka, the primary occupation in the village is rice farming. The Warlis along with the other tribes live in Thane and Palghar district of Maharashtra, situated in the north of Mumbai and stretching up to Gujarat border. Indeed the tribal population of Thane is the second largest in the state, comprising 23 percent of the total population of Warlis constitute 11,060,148 persons according to 2011 census.

Facing page (clockwise): The local house painted with Warli art in Bapugaon; The landscape of Bapugaon Same page: Local house made out of mud and bamboo. Roofs made up of dried straws, also used to store them; the interior of the house is painted with the warli art.

Mapping Crafts and Craft practices

Craft eco-system in Bapugaon Apart from the warili painters in the village, therea are people involved in other crafts like tarpa making, metal froging, pottery. Out of many tribes in Maharashtra, warli art is considered to be the most unique form of art. There are some other crafts also which Warli practice i.e. papier mache, wooden masks, dholki, dumsa, dak, tarpathe musical instruments, basket weaving, hut construction with bamboo, leepan on floor. Although most of these craft are declining because of the effect of urbanization in the rural areas.

Facing page (clockwise): Bamboo craft; Brick making; pottery craft; Tarpa making craft 29

Process of Mapping The Craft Mapping is an inclusive system of recording craft process and product information through on-field survey using mobile interactive application, photographic survey, question based inventory and craftspeople interviews. It is the first of its kind visual-based mapping technique in India conducted using the mobile or tablet device. A specific mobile application as well as data aggregation and data cataloging system have been developed by the researchers at DICRC to conduct this survey. The data generated out of this mapping process is evaluated and it is taken further in preparing an Interactive Online Craft Map and Directory which is part of Building Craft Lab. Palghar District lies in the northern part of Maharashtra, India. The map indicates areas within Palghar District in which craft mapping has been done by the members of DICRC. Warli painting, Tarpa making, Metal forging and Pottery are the crafts identified and documented in Palghar district.

Facing page (clockwise): Rahul bhushan mapping the artisan; Prof Jay Thakkar and Prof Rishav Jain interviewing the pottery craftspeople; Rahul Bhushan doing mapping through interactive mobile application

Craftspeople Mapped: Warli painters: 22, Potters: 3, Blacksmith: 7 & Tarpa maker: 1.

Warli Painters People of the Warli tribe live mainly in the mountainous and forested areas of Palghar district, north of Mumbai. The 300,000 members of this indigenous community have retained their own beliefs, customs and dialect stretching back to 3000 BC. The distinctive paintings which form a central part of their traditional practice, have become synonymous with the Warli tribe; a visual representation of Warli culture. Traditionally Warli painting was and still is a fertility ritual performed by women centering on the marriage ceremony. Paintings are made on the red ochre walls of their mud houses using a white rice paste. Narrative compositions are created using the essentially simple forms of the circle, square, triangle with single line strokes. Images contain a sacred square or “chaukat” which describes the space where the marriage goddess sits as well as demarcating the border between divine and mortal. The paintings are further animated with scenes of daily village life. Facing page (clockwise): Warli artist painting on canvas; Rice paste used as painting colour; Tools used for Painting; Artist making Warli painting; Artist making Warli painting using the wooden brush 33

Name: Anita Mashe Master Craftperson Experience: More than 26 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary

Name: Balu Jivya Mashe Master Craftperson Experience: More than 26 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary Village: Ganjad Contact: 8149971193

Name: Balu Ladakaya Dumade Craftperson Experience: 15 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary Village: Ganjad Contact: 9075303976

Name: Bhiku Kondya Zop Master Craftperson Experience: More than 26 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Non Hereditary Village: Ganjad Contact: 7820033092

Name: Chintu Radka Rajad Master Craftperson Experience: More than 26 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary Village: Raitali Contact: 9271940614

Name: Jayshree Mashe Craftperson Experience: 5 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary

Name: Padmshri Jivya Soma Mashe Master Craftperson Experience: More than 26 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Self

Name: Kalpesh Shantaram Gorkhane Craftperson Experience: 5 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary Village: Ganjad Contact: 8805830138

Name: Kishor Sadashiv Mashe Craftperson Experience: 15 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary

Name: Pandu Rama Rajad Master Craftperson Experience: More than 26 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary Village: Ganjad Contact: 9763243179

Name: Praveen Balu Mashe Craftperson Experience: 11 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary Village: Ganjad Contact: 9011622110

Name: Raju Balu Dumada Craftperson Experience: 12 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary Village: Ganjad Contact: 9689039503

Name: Ramesh Laxman Hengadi Master Craftperson Experience: 22 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Non Hereditary Village: Bapugaon Contact: 9226193016

Name: Rupesh Shantaram Gorkhana Craftperson Experience: 7 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary Village: Raitali Contact:

Name: Sadashiv Jivya Mashe Master Craftperson Experience: above 26 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary Village: Ganjad Contact: 8237448848

Name: Sandesh Chintu Rajad Craftperson Experience: 12 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary Village: Raitali Contact: 7744849411

Name: Sanjay Janu Ravate Craftperson Experience: 5 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary Village: Raitali Contact: 7507047078

Name: Baiji Lakshmiman Kaule, Santi Vanga Craftperson Experience: 65 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary

Name: Shankar Ladkya Chipat Master Craftperson Experience: More than 26 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary

Name: Shantaram Raja Gorkhana Master Craftperson Experience: More than 26 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Non Hereditary Village: Ganjad Contact: 8087972762

Name: Vijay Pandu Rajad Craftperson Experience: 7 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary Village: Raitali Contact:

Name: Vijay Sadashiv Mashe Craftperson Experience: 15 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary Village: Ganjad Contact: 8975878823

Facing page (clockwise): Craftsperson while heating metal; Tools used during the process; Tools used during craft process; Artisan heating the metal; Artisan sanding the metal to make sharp edges

Metal Forging

Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary

Metal forging is still practiced by some families in a few areas of Palghar district. The tools made by the blacksmith are used by local tribal people for various domestic purposes, such as cutting crops, striping off bamboo etc. Metal forging is carried out in small workshops in Charoti and Kasa. Metal tools are shaped by the main craftsperson, assisted by their family members.

Name: Heeralal Sitalal Chawan

Name: Raju Tukaram Sovane

Master Craftperson

Experience: More than 26 yrs

Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary

Name: Kisan Sadu Chawan

Name: Sonu Yashwant Pawar

Master Craftperson

Craftperson

Experience: More than 26 yrs

Experience: 5 yrs

Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary

Knowledge of Craft: Self

Name: Prakash Hiraman Sovane

Name: Vimala Kisan Chawan

Master Craftperson

Experience: More than 26 yrs

Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary

Name: Ganesh Kisan Chawan Craftperson Experience: 12 yrs

Pottery Facing page (anti-clockwise): Tools used for pottery craft; artisan Mitesh Prajapat making the pots on wheel, artisan Jyoti Prajapat beating the pots using tools; painting on the pots done by artisan Ganesh Prajapat

There are two families in Varoti village practicing pottery as their prime occupation. They are traditional potters who belong to Prajapati family of Gujarat, who migrated to Palghar District many years ago. Decline in demand of clay pots in the market is effecting their craft. Plastic pots are replacing clay pots in market rapidly. Today, clay pots are used by villagers largely for collecting tadi (toddy) from palm trees and heating it.

Name: Ganesh Mangu Prajapati

Name: Mitesh Kantilal Prajapat

Master Craftperson

Experience: More than 26 yrs

Experience: 22 yrs

Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary

Name: Jyoti Mitesh Prajapat Craftperson Experience: 5 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary

Tarpa Making Music plays a significant role in the warli tribe and it is one of the prominent customs in their auspicious ceremonies. There are different musical instruments associated with different occasions, Tarpa being one them. It’s a wind instrument made up of gourd, bamboo, palm leaves and joints in it are filled with paste of honey and ash.

Name: Vithal Jivya Mashe Craftperson Experience: 5 yrs Knowledge of Craft: Hereditary

Facing page (clockwise): Tarpa; Tools used for making it; process of making tarpa, bamboo strips turned around to make the mouth of tarpa; process of making tarpa 43

Research on Warli

This section is part of Post graduate thesis, “Correlation of Marriage Ritual, Habitat Space and Chowk painting” done by Saumya Sharma, guided by A/prof. Rishav Jain at Faculty of Design, CEPT University, Ahmedabad India

B PLAN OF WARLI HOUSE

SECTION AA

SECTION BB

Chowk Painting and Habitat Space The Wedding Chowk is a traditional form of painting of the warli tribe which is still done by people during marriage ceremony as a part of the ritual. When rituals are performed during wedding in a space, all characteristics of the Chowk are applied to the space, which results in certain effects and transformation i.e. the space behaves in a certain way and responds to it. Rituals establish spaces of sanctity. Clear demarcation can be made between what is inside and outside and between sacred and secular spaces. Demarcations are not only the physical boundaries but also the perceived ones. Transformation in the space can be visualized in chowk painting. Rituals are symbolic transformation of myths, beliefs, ethics, ideas and experiences which can be seen in the painting. With the medium of illustrations, the process of marriage in warli tribe is shown and simultaneously the way the space is transforming can be seen through identical activities taking place in a warli hut. Temporary structures like the mandapa create a new realm in an already existing space and this newly constructed realm is dedicated to rituals, giving it the utmost importance. Spatial qualities of built space: boundary, sense of enclosure, center and periphery. Symbolic quality of built space establishes a series of functional and nodal points. 47

Wedding Chowk

The two triangles depicts the headgear or a triangular crown which is wore by bride and groom on the wedding day. Three dots is reflects top of the headgear. Marriage cannot take place.

Chowk means a square. Its four corners belongs to four different household gods: hirva, himai, narayandev, jotinga who are meant to guard the universe as well as the hut of newly married couple.

Chowk

Bhasing Palghat, the goddess of trees and plants who presides over a marriage. Without worshipping her a marriage cannot take place.

Palghata

Sun God Moon God

Dak

Kalash The bride and groom portrayed as god accompanied by a young girl carrying kalash on her head. Kalash, is a pot filled with water and surrounded by mango leaves and coconut. It’s an auspicious symbol of fertility, growth and prosperity.

Bride Groom and Karavali

The pattern is inspired by mat on which bride and groom sit. It is made up of palm tree leaves weaved in check pattern

Pasodi

The ladder leads to the sacred universe in which the couple is going to live. Comb and two bags contains the belonging of bride. the woman carrying an oil lamp is dhalveri who performs rituals and customs during marriage.

Ladder,Dhalver & rice sacks

The pattern depicts dak, a musical instrument which they play during marriage.

This pattern is taken from the mat on which bride and groom sit on during marriage.

Dabba 49

Chowk around Rice Hole

Chowk painting on wall and Mandap setting outside

Relationship between Habitat Space and Wedding Rituals When ritual is carried out in a space, all of its possessions and characteristics are applied to the space which results in certain changes and transformations in the space. The space in response to the ritual behaves in a certain manner to adapt the essential modifications. The transformation and changes that the space undergoes during a ritual or rite connects the physical (related to build form of a space) and notional aspects (associated with spiritual and cosmological characteristic) of a space. A Space as an outcome of a rite performed can be further categorized into tangible and intangible behavior. The conception of a ritual and the way it has been performed has transformed over a period of time. With the transformations, responses towards the space have also been changed. In everyday life a space may have not seems to be significant, but during an auspicious occasion like festivals, birth, marriage etc. The significance of the same space become apparent. It becomes an environment for the activities to be performed during rituals.

Intoxication Ritual

Post Intoxication Ritual Celebration

Marriage ritual in Mandap and Bhovara Pattern marked

Celebration after marriage

International Exchange Residency in Bapugaon

Vision of Kendra A conversation between Rishav Jain and Ramesh Hengadi The following is an extract from the interview of Warli artist Ramesh Hengadi conducted by Rishav Jain, an Assistant Professor and craft research expert at Design Innovation and Craft Resource Centre (DICRC), CEPT University. The open ended interview largely focused on understanding Warli, Ramesh’s journey as a Warli artist , his visit to UK and his vision for the Warli Kendra. The interview has been transcribed and edited to fit the purpose of this publication. What is Warli for you? What does it mean to you? Since ages, Warli is called the art of tribals. In our community it is a language depicting difference scenarios through paintings. Warli is related to Earth. We believe that nature is God. And on auspicious occasions we invite God by making Warli paintings. We worship everything given by nature and we celebrate it by making Warli paintings. Different seasons have different paintings as the activities one are different. During monsoons, the seeds of the rice crop are sown only after worshipping the Rain God. So for Facing page: Kendra painting done by Warli artist Ramesh Hengadi 57

each stages, each season has been worshipped. Worship happens during the time of harvesting as well. We do not consume the rice until all the rituals are over after which it is taken for our use. From that also we store some quantity for the next year’s rains to sow as seeds. So this is about the monsoons. After that the festival of lights, Diwali comes. We celebrate Diwali in different way. In any of the festivals, we don’t have the custom of inviting people. In our community we collectively celebrate festivals. People participate, they dance and they celebrate. We play an instrument called Tarpa which acts as an open invitation for all. We remember our ancestors during festival celebrations by worshipping them. There are alot of things we consume after worshipping like fruits, vegetables, grains. When we don’t have work, we make things that we need in our day to day life like bamboo baskets, granaries, etc. Men go to forest to cut dried stems to light fire, make tools used in the forest and farms. Women go to fetch water in the morning, cook food, assist men in farming too. Our traditional instruments are different for different occasions. The voice and the music from the instrument depicts the occasion. If a certain music is played from the particular instrument, we figure out that a death occurred in the house from where the instrument is being played. You told me about the history, the subjects of painting, about the community. Earlier warli was done at the time of chowk. Was it just done just at the time of chowk? Yes, chowk is been painted since thousands of years. We can say paintings have developed from chowk since last 50-60 years. Padmashree Jivya Soma Mashe (a well-recognised Warli artist) promoted the art. From chowk, painting

happened. The customs, traditions, beliefs, values are already given to us by our ancestors. The expression of each story however depends on the individual artist. What is the importance of the shapes used in the Warli paintings? The shapes used in the paintings are inspired from Nature. As I said that we worship Nature and believe that nature is God. Hence, whatever we see in Nature, we paint it. The triangle shape represents the Mountains in nature. The line depicts the linear flow of the river from mountains. The sun is shown by circle, the moon by dot. The square in chowk depicts the village boundaries. Whatever our forefathers saw in nature and surroundings, they tried to portray it in Warli and used shapes accordingly. Is it your family art? What is your family background? My father was a Bhagat i.e. priest. I have two brothers. One practices Warli painting and the other does farming and assists my father. My father used to conduct religious and ritualistic activities on different occasions in our village. I used to accompany him and witnessed the rituals performed on different occasions and festivals. And I showcased them in my painting. When I was in 7th standard, the women of the community took me with them to fill warli chowk. I used to return from school and join them for the filling. When I saw rituals and ceremonies, I realized that these can be expressed through Warli paintings also. Since then, I’ve started practicing Warli. It’s been 24-25 years of practicing Warli. I’ve made paintings since childhood. But when I was in 8th standard, I made a painting on card which was taken to the French Embassy in 1989-1990. Can you please tell about it more? How did it reach to the French Embassy?

I used to work with an NGO called DTEWA. They arranged a competition in our school. I was given a book and I started painting the Warli art. The book had a cover of INTACH with their logo. I painted whatever it was in my mind with my whole heart and soul. And I stood first in the competition. That was used in a book called ‘India in 1990’. After higher secondary education, I started understanding things, met people and started my own research about Warli. Tell us something about your early life experiences, your education and previous experiences at work. I did an MA in Rural Development from Mumbai University and BA in Rural Development and Economics. I also did a vocation course in electrical. I started my job as a social field. It was about creating environmental and cultural awareness in tribal areas. I got promoted as Joint Secretary after working for 6 years as field officer. Collaterally, a major issue was about the Wadhwan port. The port was expanding killing our villages.A lot of people migrated due to which our culture was getting vanished. I took part in the legal fight for our village against Wadhwan port. There were lots of turns and rounds to the court that time. After all this, I got married in 2007. After my marriage I left my job and got involved in a lot of exhibitions displaying my Warli paintings. In 1995, an exhibition was held by Cultural area foundation through INTACH and DTEWA. This was my first exhibition experience in Mumbai. After this exhibition, I encouraged myself to be a part of the organisations like Gramshree and Paramparik. Were you still practicing paintings when you were working with the NGO’s? Yes, I did both. I used to work with them and parallel I used to practice Warli art too. When any visitors or researchers came, I used to show them my work. If they didn’t purchase,

I gifted them my paintings. I got a lot of exposure and experience by being with them. I got experience in social work, politics and how the community and culture can be saved. The government was proposing a lot of projects then. So I started learning if those projects were necessary or not by being with them. Media came to our village for the first time in 1994. BBC mostly took the interview related to project but they also took the interview related to painting and Warli. It was BBC ATN television. This was when we did not have a television at our house. And when we had television, we didn’t have dish connection. There was a shop nearby which did and I saw my painting there on TV. You said you were related to the NGO’s, then how did you meet Barney and Jeremy? I met Barney through Paramparik around 2005-2006. They came to India related to project. They saw in Paramparik that India has rich arts and crafts and people still practice them. He saw my work in Paramparik. And he mentioned that they wanted to work with artists. In Paramparik, he saw Warli art and got to know that tribal in India still practice this art. Barney came along with Johnny, Steve and Jeremy. They called me and discussed about the project. Barney saw your work in Paramparik, did he? Neela Shinde told me about Barney and the team’s arrival in December. He asked me to welcome them to Bapugaon. I asked musicians and the people of my community to welcome them in our traditional manner by playing traditional instruments and dancing. I went to pick them and we got stuck in a lot of traffic. Everyone in the village was waiting for us since afternoon. People were overwhelmed by their arrival. Everything went well. The only problem we faced was the power cut. We made a bonfire using a pile of dried stem. They enjoyed the scenario

and that’s how we started talking about the work. Through discussions and talkings it was decided that I will have to go to UK in 2007. I didn’t know what exactly their plans were. I had my passport though. I applied for Visa in visitor’s category and got rejected for 2 times. It got rejected 2 times. Didn’t you feel to quit? I have many local and national certificates. I wanted to have an international certificate this time. I got stubborn. Visa procedure was long, hectic and full of rejections. The team in UK came to know about the visa rejection. They asked me to reapply for the next year as the event was already scheduled. I reapplied and it again got rejected. Then, the team from UK had a word in Paramparik. They had sent a letter after which I got my Visa. Paramparik helped me alot in this procedure. How did you feel while travelling to out of India for the first time? Did anyone accompany you? Yes, I went out of India for the first time. By meeting them and talking with them, I got a slight idea on why they were calling me there. I took my materials to the UK. I always take my own materials wherever I go. They had described about the seasons and climate. They told me that sun is barely seen in UK. The winters are too cold. I wasn’t nervous at all but I was a bit confused. I sat in the plane. I had traveled through domestic flights before but this was my first long journey in a plane. I started my journey by praying to God and remembering my forefathers. I was accompanied by a boy named Arvind Ghosalkar, he was an artist too. I didn’t had the clear idea about what was I supposed to do there, but I slightly understood by talking to them. Tell us more about your UK visit. We landed to Manchester airport and went to their home. They showed us our accommodation. They came to meet

us and expressed their happiness of our arrival after a long wait. They all were eager to meet me. I was called on tea at Lisa’s place. Lisa is the director. People working there told me that I am lucky enough to be called at her house for tea as people rarely get chance. The first two-three days passed in interacting with people after which I started my work. I took mud for the base to start painting and I wanted cow dung. It is so easy to get cow dung in India as we can see animals roaming around. But from where do we get dung there? It doesn’t work that way there. Everything happens on machine there. Next day, we went , pulled out the dung from the machine with the help of bucket and took it in a lorry. I don’t use the dung directly. Instead I wash and apply it. Arvind started applying it directly. Every artist has its own style of using the materials. We were given a subject to make painting. The subject was to show the culture of UK through warli art. I wasn’t expose to the lifestyle of the people there. While walking on the streets, I noticed that people keep their doors closed due to the climate there. In India, we hardly close our doors and that’s how interaction happens in our community. But I knew one thing. Rivers flow on earth, mountains exist and trees flourish. Then we went to Alison’s place. She gave us Chai and snacks and asked how it was. I joked about this saying,” you have just offered tea and snacks. What’s so great in that?”. But then I came to know that she had never in her life cooked or made tea by herself. For us, she referred to many different books and made chai and nasta to understand how we live in India and what our culture and lifestyle is. I was so impressed by the tea she had made. She gave me so much of respect one could ever get as

an artisan. It is been said that she is related to 10-11 royal families around the world. It took around 3-3.5 hours to tour her house. She had said photography was restricted there but allowed me to photograph the gold and silver seating that she owned. After the visit she said she wanted a painting from me. I made a painting of her palace. We met again after 6 weeks from the first meeting. She was so impressed and happy with the painting that she gifted me 500 pounds. She wrote to me saying it wasn’t the selling price but as a gift from her. A gallery exhibition was arranged and all my paintings that I had made there were displayed. I displayed around 9-11 paintings while the sale was done by them. When the exhibition opened, all of my paintings got sold on the very first day. I got some small cards from India. All of my paintings were sold and I got the money. The gallery commission was cut and I got the rest of the amount later, through the project. Did you feel any difference in the exhibitions of India and UK? I noticed that people in UK were keen enough to know about the art.. They valued art more than money. They came and just took away whatever they liked. They never asked the price of the painting. I got a lot of respect there. People there were curious to know the stories I tried to show through my work. They took interest and they were happy knowing the stories shown in the painting. In India, people will look around, ask for the price and then they will purchase it. Less people are interested in knowing the story behind the paintings. It’s not about money, it’s about the respect and interest one takes in my work. What were your feelings when you came back? Would you like to work in UK or in India?

It is more important to work in India than in UK. In UK, there is respect, there is money. But I want to show people here that Adivasi community is not just any other community. People should know what happens in an Adivasi community; what they make, how do they make and what their culture is. This is in my heart since past 10 years. And I will work for it all my life. My work is not just to make paintings and sell them but also to take this culture forward and pass it on to next generation. You said that people here don’t respect and they don’t take the art seriously. Then why do you want to explain people of India? Did you take any initiative to spread your thought? In India , a lot of misunderstanding happens. And then it passes on to people. They see a Warli painting, they get to know about it and then they misunderstand that they know everything about Warli culture. This is a misunderstanding. Another misunderstanding is that Warli painters work from huts. A hut is a house after all. First know what the hut is, how it feels to live in a hut, how the work happens in a hut. People should know the originality of the culture. Yes I did. When I talk with people about how it was in the UK and how it is in India, they say that they will come here and see the lifestyle and all. As an artist, even if I paint and show our lifestyle through a painting, people will be able to see but won’t experience it. Originality is here. Do people from India come to your village apart from people coming to galleries, museums and exhibitions? Yes visitors come to see our work, our lifestyle and our culture. When I used to work in Dhanu, I used to demonstrate the process to people and teach them how to make a small painting. It has been happening since then. Since the past 4 years, the government organizes Tarpa

Mahotsav and there is one more named Chickoo mahotsav. Other than these, people come to see marriage chowks. That’s it. Do you feel that the Warli project with Barney is helping you to do this? They initially told us that ,”we are going to push your limits to an extent. After that, you will have to decide whether you want to go ahead or stay where you are”. They brought us to a level and have pushed our limits. And I feel they will always help me whenever needed. They won’t leave me halfway. But what if in case they leave you halfway? Then I will consider my home as the Centre and I will start working on it. I have been thinking of the Centre for the past 15 years, so the execution of thoughts will take some time. It will happen eventually. This project with Barney has given you a different way of thinking. Do you notice any change from the community or from the nearby villages towards you as you have been working with them? It’s nothing like that. People already respect me. They know me. When few students and Lokesh bhai came and asked about the permission at certain places, I told them to take my name and that they will be allowed. Hence, they know my name; as a person they know me. As the project took you to UK and gave you such exposure, your confidence got boosted. Even you feel that people in India should know about this art. Is there any similar organization in India? If not, did you try by yourself? Yes I did. I worked with an organization called Baaya Design. They have their shop too. They said that they cannot set us up but they can help us for demonstration or arrange

workshops with tourism linked with it. They even suggested to bring visitors to us where I can show them my work. These were few ideas that were exchanged. My aim is to create a centre and invite people here. Why do you want to build a centre? Can you please share your thoughts about centre? An artist makes a painting. But people don’t know the story behind that painting. To bind them all together, I want to create this Centre. By working together, we can save this art for the future generation. And it would help them too. Many artists think that they should work only at the time of exhibitions and do other jobs meanwhile. I have seen Dakshinachitra. It is beautifully done. It has increased the images in my mind for my Centre. I want that in my society, in my community and in my tribal culture, there are things which have vanished like mud houses. I want to keep that alive but it requires a lot of maintenance. I wanted to apply the formula of Dakshinachitra where I have a house; similar 5-6 houses create a settlement and similar 5-6 settlements create a village. This is my vision. I believe that people from my community and other artist will support. The Centre will help them to promote work and talent. I will call people here and show them. I worked with NGO earlier. I was down with money power and even manpower. You went to UK twice and you are working with Barney since past 8-9 years, did you feel any change? My thinking has improved. They could have ended relations after the project. But they have maintained ties with us. They came here to take the paintings and gave me my commission. It had slowed down a bit for 2-3 years because Jeremy had cancer and Johnny was unwell for a time. The thinking has changed and so have the paintings. The

painting will be made, but the way the thought process works when a subject is given has changed. So you said that the thinking has changed. Why is it changed? Just because they are from UK? It’s not because they are from out of India, but it was necessary to change the thinking here. Everyone can do a Warli painting. Anyone can do Warli painting, on canvas, wall, paper etc. But it is all very common. It still got the same figures and shapes. It wasn’t growing. I am still researching on this art. So now if I have to make a painting, and I don’t understand the meaning, how will I be able to make the painting? The painting should express the real emotions like happiness or sadness. If you have been asked to describe the benefits, advantages, disadvantages from the project, how would you describe it in 5-6 line? I feel that the reality of our culture, our traditions, our lifestyle and our day to day life should be seen. I wish not only people from cities or a locality come, but people from across the world should come and see, experience, feel the tradition and culture of India, the Warli culture. This project is helping me to establish the Kendra. I just wish that this should continue. The centre, the project should continue. It should not be just till the project lasts or till I am here. It should go on and on for the young generation; for the coming generations. My confidence has increased a lot after getting in touch with these artists. And I know they won’t ever leave me. The centre is the medium for me to connect with the people. If a person from any corner of the world would like to come and meet me, he will be given the address of the centre. So, the international artists come to your place, do you think you are learning anything?

Apart from learning, the thinking is going to change definitely. Learning happens at each step. What if I say that a painting on the subject “Change” is to be made, but don’t guarantee you the selling of that painting, would you still practice this art? In exhibitions, it is like this. I have experienced it most of the times. And I have been advised that if I change it a bit or if I make it like a certain way, it will look better. But that’s how we practice and learn and try new things. What are the five words to describe Warli? Whatever painting we do on wall, it remains in our memories. Whatever we write in our painting, whatever we draw in the painting, it remains in our memories forever. For me, Warli is Nature, culture, lifestyle, festival. What are the three things you want in your life? One is the Kendra, second is livelihood for people and third is something for future generation. I want to train the younger generation about how the painting was made before, how it is made today and what can be done in future.

Heart:Beat Residency Heart:Beat residency was located in the Warli heartland of Palghar district, Maharashtra. It was focused on the tradition of Warli painting, which reflects the cultural, ancestral and material connections between the indigenous people and their landscape. For the residency phase (7th january to 22nd january 2017), the team lived and worked together at ‘The Hideout’ retreat in Vikramgad where they were hosted by Hemant Chabra, Sangeeta and family . From their base the artists travelled regularily to the principle site for the residency, Bapugaon Village some 30 km from Hideout. The residency culminated with a “pop up” exhibition, a one-day event set up in the compound of Hengadi’s home. The exhibition included the artists installations sited in the compound, soundscapes and film, along with a series of 10 commissioned Warli paintings on the theme of “change”. Together the work created an imagined Kendra in the heart of the village. The HeartBeat event was attended by over 1000 people including 350 local school children.

Facing page: Team’s excrusion in the forest of Bapugaon 71

Anita Sadashiv Mashe

Balu Jivya Mashe

Anita Sadashiv Mashe

Barney Hare Duke

Jasleen Kaur

Jason Singh

Jay Thakkar

Jayshri

Warli Artist, India

Artist, UK

Interior Designer, India

Warli Artist, India

Artistic Director, UK

Sound Artist, UK

Warli Artist, India

Residency artists

Padma Shri Jivya Soma Mashe

Acclaimed Warli artist Ramesh Hengadi, supported by a team comprised of fellow painters, brickmakers, village artisans and musicians, acted as both facilitator and project lead artist, hosting the intensive two week residency in his home village of Bapugaon. A multidisciplinary team of UK and Indian artists included: Joanne Ayre (ceramics), Stephen Dixon (ceramics), Lokesh Ghai (textiles), Rishav Jain (craft research and digital documentation) Jasleen Kaur (design), Johnny Magee (digital media), Jason Singh (voice and audio) and Jay Thakkar (interior architecture). With further participation of India’s leading Warli artist Jivya Soma Mashe; his sons Balu and Sadashiv Jivya Mashe; Praveen, Anita, Kishoor, Rasika, Kalpesh, Vijay, Jayshri, Baiji Laxmiman Kaule, Santi Vanga and former students Shantaram Gorkhana and Balu Dumadu.

Warli Artist, India

Joanne Ayre

Ceramic Artist, UK 73

Johnny Magee

Kalpesh

Kishor S. Mashe

Lokesh Ghai

Praveen

Rahul Bhushan

Rajesh Hengadi

Ramesh Hengadi

Artist Film and Photography, UK

Warli Artist, India

Warli Artist, India 74

Warli Artist, India

Textile Artist, India

Architect, India

Warli Artist, India

Rasika Hengadi

Rishav Jain

Sadashiv Jivya Mashe

Baiji Lakshmiman Kaule Santi Vanga

Saumya Sharma

Shantaram R Gorkhana

Stephen Dixon

Vijay Sadashiv Mashe

Warli Artist, India

Architect, India

Ceramic Artist, UK

Craft Researcher, India

Warli Artist, India

Field Visits A busy schedule was set with Initial days of artists residency included meetings and engaging with Warli painters, local craftspeople, artisans, school children and cultural producers. They were also involved in observing the rounds of activity in the towns and villages. The artists travelled daily to the village of Bapugoan; home of the project lead artist Ramesh Hengadi. Here, working alongside and in collaboration with local artists and craftspeople, the residency artists began to formulate their “response” pieces of art-work.

Facing page (clockwise): Team discussions over Warli painting at Jivya’s house; Barney Hare Duke in conversation with member of Vayam NGO; Conversation with craftspeople during Crafts Mapping; Team excursion 77

Collaborative Installations Collaborative installation was a part of the residency where the core artists came together with the local artists, craftspeople, village residents and local schoolchildren to work on the project. The central idea driving the vision of the installations was the creation of a “picture” marked out in the landscape , the picture was to be a representation of the lay out and series of activities of an art centre, an imagainged kendra . Materials used to creat the installations were sourced locally, the essential materials of place served to illustrate everyday living, making and the importance in the lives of people.

Facing page: International artists and Warli artists working together on the installations

The following are copies of the captions that were written to accompany each of the exhibited installations: 1. Breaking the ground 2. If A then B 3. The film 4. Potter’s story 5. Tree of life 6. Graft 7. Hearth 8. Circuit 9. Sketch 10. Nothing is wasted 11. The Chowk 79

Breaking the Ground The bricks are made from the clay that lies in the ground of Palghar. Stacks of drying bricks areused to build the monumental kiln structures that puncture the landscape of the district. A family unit makes 1000 bricks a day. The raw material, labour and skill is represented here in the bricks used to build the artists’ installations. Bricks are laid out to create the perimeter (the border) of the central chowk, symbolically laying the foundations for building the Imagined Kendra. concept: Barney Hare Duke and Ramesh Hengadi co-makers: Sunil Hengadi, Jaina Kavale, Keshav Kavale

Facing page (clockwise): Installation; Craftsperson excavating soil from ground; Artist Barney Hare Duke working with Craftspeople. 81

If A then B This project examines the relationship, value system and hierarchy between traditional art forms (such as warli painting) and western contemporary art. The reappropriation of contemporary western art world in a foreign context (and the Warli painting in the West) begins to examine the differing perspectives of how we see and value things- when meaning is lost, misinterpreted or misunderstood. Developing this project into video will attempt to question the automatic alignment to western notions of art and consider all production of culture as equal- be it art, craft or labour. artist: Jasleen Kaur co-makers: Rasika Hengadi, Rajshri Hengadi

Facing page (clockwise): Artist Hasleen Kaur working on her installation; Installation; Installation; Warli artist Rasika Hengadi and Rajshri Hengadi apinting daily activities of their lives on pot; ‘The Rosetta Vase’, 2011 by Grayson Perry; ‘As if to Celebrate, I Discovered a Mountain Blooming with Red Flowers’, 1981 by Anish Kapoor; ‘Equivalent VIII’, 1966 by Carl Andre 83

The Film The film considers the landscape of the rural areas where people live. The narrative follows a school lesson where Warli painting is taught along with repetitive making such as baskets, bricks, paintings etc. Throughout the film, references are made to motifs seen in the painting such as trees, lakes, hay stacks, rice fields and tribal houses. artist: Johnny Magee co-makers: Everyone (school children, chowk painters, bamboo kangimakers, brick makers

Facing page: Film artist Johnny Magee shooting Suasinis painting chowk. 85

Potter’s Story The water pot is the universal symbol of fertility, the womb of life. It is revered, but is being replaced by metal and plastic pots as they are cheaper and more practical. As a result, clay pots are undervalued and potters are losing their livelihood. The village potter is an endangered species. A discarded traditional potter’s wheel was used in the installation (a type of momentum wheel which now has been replaced by the electrical wheel), illustrating the traditional way of pot making and the skills behind it. installation: Barney Hare Duke

Facing page: Installation 87

Tree of Life This installation represents the significance of the tree in Warli culture. It provides shade and shelter in the rainy season to villagers, and is an essential part of their life, as a source of food and livelihood. Painted motifs on the trees illustrate day to day activities, animals, birds and gods of tribe and serve to reinforce the respect of nature that is central to Warli culture. artist: Ramesh Hengadi co-makers: Rajaram Hendi, Rasika Henagdi, Ganga Ram Chaudhary and Kalpesh Vavree

Facing page: Tree painting by warli artist Ramesh Hengadi. 89

Graft Handmade bone China flowers were transported from the floor of a Stoke-on-Trent factory to the fingertips of Warli schoolchildren. Being amongst the first visitors to the site of the envisioned Kendra, every child at the local school received a flower to plant within the space and another to take home. A simple symbolic act of exchange and celebration of culture, as well as something unexpected at which to marvel. A little patch of Stoke in an Indian landscape. artist: Joanne Ayre co-makers: School children from Bapugaon village school

Facing page: School children inserting flowers into the soil. 91

Hearth Pound, thresh, sweep, talk, grind, paint, cook, sing, sieve, carry, spread, smooth, wash, make, sort, laugh. The home of a Warli family became a space for observing, thinking and making. With women to guide, inform and work alongside; a gentle camaraderie and spirit of mutual exchange emerged. Using rice as both subject and material, a collection of canvases expressed and reflected upon the rituals that contribute to daily life, navigating a way through home, work and art. Now, this response to specifics of time, place and people, begins to morph, to be translated; seeking connections with another culture, another set of materials, a different set of hands. artist: Joanne Ayre co-makers: Ramesh Hengadi, Rasika Hengadi, Rajshri Hengadi, Meenakshi Malji Lilka, Rutuja Hengadi, Raj Hengadi, Ankita Anata Mali, Jasleen kaur, Saumya, Rahul Raghunath Lilka and Lokesh Ghai

Facing page (clockwise): Hearth studio; Artist Joanne Ayre working on her Installation; Warli woman doing leepan with cow dung and preparing Hearth studio floor. 93

Circuit This piece represents the tension between tradition and modernity, construction and development. An auspicious circle of savari birds surround an installation of electrical insulators. The power source sits at the centre of an inevitable cycle of change. artist: Stephen Dixon co-makers: Bharti Ranjit Deva, Neeru Naveen Deva, Gora Bapu Sarkhi

Facing page: Installation in which birds are made by bamboo craftspeople and bird silhouette made with rice powder on ground. 95

Sketch A series of wrapped objects collected in Palghar District during the residency. The objects relate to materials and tools for working the land, and are wrapped in the manner of Warli household gods. The bright colours represent the vibrancy of Indian material culture seen from a European perspective. artist: Stephen Dixon co-makers: Santi Vanga, Baiji Lakshiman Kaule, Sunil Hengadi, Jaine Kaule, Keshave Kaule

Facing page: Installation made out of different objects wrapped in bright colour cotton cloth, layed on rice husk and boundary is marked by cow dung. 97

Nothing is Wasted This is a series of stereo, binaural and experimental recordings that document the presence of rice and its by-products through a wide range of day-to-day processes and activities. These include brick making, painting, pottery, food and song. artist: Jason Singh co-makers: Santi Vanga, Baiji Lakshiman Kaule

Facing page: Suasini listening to her own music recorded by artist Jason Singh. 99

The Chowk The idea of the chowk in Warli painting holds a significant meaning: the continuity of traditions and unbroken lineage. The installation reasserts the centrality of the Chowk as the root at the core of Warli painting; ‘The Chowk’, upon which foundations of the next generation of warli cultural practice will build. Oscillating between present and past, the fired brick represents the changing contemporary, while the central painted wall panel , painted by women following the ageold rituals, represents the traditional essence, the retained form and materials. concept: Barney Hare Duke co- producers: Jay Thakkar, Rishav Jain, Rahul Bhushan, Saumya Sharma artists: Santi Vanga, Baiji Lakshmiman Kaule

Facing page (clockwise): Chowk installation made out of bricks; Heartbeat Team gathered for chowk ritual performed by Bhagat; Suasinis Painting chowk with rice paste and bamboo stick 101

Commissioned Paintings

as a part of this project 10 Warli Artists were commissioned to create paintings centered on the theme of “Change”

Kumbhar kam-Pottery craft The local process of making pottery is depicted.

Artist: Ramesh Hengadi

Brickworks

Artist: Ramesh Hengadi

Documenting the process of making bricks. The earth’s resources are exploited to create the building materials for growth and development.

Jaldeep Water Light

Artist: Balu Jivya Mashe On realising the evil of over drinking ‘Tadi’, the God kicked the Tadi fruit that was easily available being near the ground, to top portion of the tree.

Survat ki kheti- The beginning of farming

Jayshree Sadashiv Mashe

Preparations required for farming is shown in the painting, such as covering the filed with cow dung, then adding a layer of dried leaves. Eventually burning the leaves, which results good crop.

Mahila Parivartan- Change in the lives of women

Artist: Anita Balu Mashe

The paintings depict how times are changing for the women of Warli tribe. Girls have started schooling; women have started to be entrepreneurs; women can also be seen driving.

Origin of Wine and Tadi

Artist: Balu Dumade On realising the evil of over drinking ‘Tadi’, the God kicked the Tadi fruit that was easily available being near the ground, to top portion of the tree.

Hunger

Artist: Vijay Sadashiv Mashe

The painting depicts the times when the Warli tribes were exploited and not given enough compensation for working in the fields of the moneylender, the ‘Sahukar’. When the Sahukar refuses to give food to the tribal people, the tribal response that they would go in the jungle and ask for food from various fruits and vegetable‘Sahukar’.

Parivartan – Change

Artist: Shantaram Ghorkana

The painting documents the annual cycle of Warli activity and the inevitable changes brought about through development and industrialisation in Palghar.

Kendra Reimagined

Artist: Ramesh Hengadi

Ramesh’s vision of the Warli artist centre in ‘Bapugav’, Maharashtra. Painted following the residency and pop up exhibition in Bapugoan, the idea of the Kendra was reimagined.

Ashara Birds–Savri Birds

Artist: Praveen Balu Mashe

When the birds circle above the temple it is an auspicious sign (for good); if however a shadow of the bird falls on a child, who is crying, this is not good, the situation can only be rectified by making sacrifice to appease the gods.

Encounter with the tiger at mid night

Artist: Ramesh Hengadi

There is an unexpected encounter in the night forest when Ramesh’s father goes to hunt a rabbit. The tiger gets entangles in the net, but is rescued by Ramesh’s father by cutting the net and letting it go.

Untitled

Artist: Ramesh Hengadi

Vivashta- Helplessness of the Earth

Artist: Kishoor Sadashiv Mashe

The painting depicts the mother earth crying, as humans are exploiting the earth by cutting the forest in greed, taking more than what they actually need. As the result the earth temperature rises and there is fire in the jungle.

Untitled Painting done by Ramesh Hengadi during exhibiton in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Artist: Ramesh Hengadi

Closing event at Bapugaon The two week long residency was concluded by presenting the collection of works that each of the artists involved had produced. Brought together in a pop up temporary gallery space- an imagined Kendra outside the house of the lead Warli artist Ramesh Hengadi. This took the form of a one-day live event, a curated pop up exhibition and an experimental performance featuring paintings, objects, structures, film projection, soundscape and live music and dance. An aerial image of the event, as shown on the next page, reveals the composition of the imagined warli kendra in the compound of Hengadi’s house.

Facing page (clockwise): People leaving their hand prints on the cloth

The perimeter “walls” were hung with the commissioned paintings, along with others brought to the site as contributions to the event from other warli painters. The family house functioned as a darkened space within which early edits from the dramatic drone shot project film was shown. The compound space was divided into fields and sites where the installations were set out or made in situ. Taking centre stage was a specially constructed brick bordered chowk. Tied bundles of rice straw were placed across the gound

Next page (clockwise): Aerial shot of the temporary gallery space-an imagined Kendra outside the house od Warli artist Ramesh Hengadi 119

creating a pattern reminiscent of the marks in warli paintings (see First Rain” by Hengadi). The Bapugaon exhibition/event was officially opened by the district Chief of Police insert name. Over 1000 people came to the event, including 350 schoolchildren. Food and refreshments were served from a mendap adjoining the house, making the event trully celebratory and participatory.

Same page (clockwise): The entire team of the artists in Bapugaon Facing page (clockwise): Artist Hasleen Kaur setting up the screen for the movie; Warli artist with International artist pinning up the paintings for the exhibition in Bapugaon; Prof Jay Thakkar and artist Barney setting up the installation Chowk

Same page (clockwise): Lokesh Ghai interacting with the visitor and explaining the painting; Visitors looking at the paintings and the installations done at the imagined Kendra;visitors looking at the installation ‘Tree of Life’ Next page (clockwise): People looking around the paintings and the installations; school students visiting the exhibitions; school kids leaving their hand prints on the cloth

Exhibitions

Exhibition at Ahmedabad An exhibition drawing on the elements of the Bapugaon event, and recreating some of the the installations was brought to Ahmedabad. Curated by Stephen Dixon and Barney are Duke the HeartBeat exhibition was co-produced and managed by the DICRC Project team. It was organised in Kanoria Center of Arts, CEPT University, Ahmedabad from 31st March,17 to 5 April,17. During six days of the exhibition several events took place such as talk by artists, workshop by school children and craft lecture for college students. Warli artists Ramesh Hengadi and his wife Rasika Hengadi made painting during the exhibition. It was an unique experience for visitors, watching live warli painting and interacting with the artists.

Facing page: People visiting the exhibition at Kanoria Centre of Arts, Ahmedabad on innaugaration day 129

Scheduled Events On the first day of the exhibition a lecture was given by Ceramic Artist Stephen Dixon, Artistic Director Barney Hare Duke, UK, Prof. Jay Thakkar, DICRC, India accompanied by Warli artist Ramesh Hengadi. The artist shared their experiences and journey with Heart:beat Project and crafts. It also gave an opportunity for audience to connect with the artist. Students of Red Bricks School, Ahmedabad also showed up along with their teacher, Mrs. Vineeta for the warli painting workshop. The kids interacted with artists, drew paintings after observing and understanding the displayed paintings. It was a great exposure and learning experience for them. College students from NIFT, Gandhinagar along with their faculty Prof. Lokesh Ghai had a session about the process of project and Warli as a craft with researchers of Heart:beat.

Facing page (clockwise): Ramesh Hengadi during the artist talk; Interactive session with NIFT students by Lokesh Ghai and Saumya; School kids painting the motif of Warli art; School kids with their faculty understanding the art 131

Media The entire exhibition event of Ahmedabad was covered by newspapers and local television channels. Warli artist Ramesh Hengadi, Prof. Jay Thakkar, Interior designer Rahul Bhushan were interviewed where they shared their experience of the residency that happened in Bapugaon and the intention of the project Heart:Beat.

Facing page Above: Prof Jay Thakkar and lokesh Ghai being interviewd by the local television media Below: Warli artist Ramesh Hengadi interviewd by the television media 133

From left to right (clockwise): DNA newspaper; Ahmedabad Mirror;

From left to right (clockwise): The exhibition setup at Kanoria Gallery, Ahmedabad ; People looking through the panel describing the exhibition; Barney and Rahul interacting with the visitors; Students sketching the Warli motifs; The chowk setup being visited by the students

From left to right (clockwise): Asha Mandapa visiting the exhibition ; Barney explaining the Circuit installation to the visitors; School students planting the flowers;Top view of the installation Circuit; Warli artist Rasika Hengadi making a painting in Ahmedabad

From left to right (clockwise): Visitors watching the film of the residency at Bapugaon; Warli artist Ramesh Hengadi making Warli painting on canvas during exhibition, Flower plantation done by the people visiting the exhibition at Kanoria, visiitors visiting the exhibition, interacting with Barney and watching the film screening

Ahmedabad Event Team

Aathish G.

Barney Hare Duke

Chinmay Gheware

Jay Thakkar

Lokesh Ghai

Radha Devpura

Student, India

Textile Artist, India

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Artistic Director, UK

Interior Designer, India

Student, India

Rahul Bhushan Architect, India

Rasika Hengadi Warli Artist, India

Saumya

Architect, India

Ramesh Hengadi Warli Artist, India

Rishav Jain

Craft Researcher, India

Stephen Dixon Ceramic Artist, UK

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Exhibition at Stoke on Trent HeartBeat was presented as part of the fifth British Ceramics Biennial in Stoke-on-Trent 23 September – 5 November 2017. A major event within the British Ceramics Biennial programme , the exhibition was shown across two venues, the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery sculpture court and within the Bethesda Chapel a restoration project adjacent to the Gallery. The exhbition layout drew on the Bapugaon installation and included work and materials brought from India along with work developed post residency. New works were commissioned to specifically link Stoke-on-Trent and Bapugaon through the use of clay as a common material of place and medium of creative cultural production. The new works included an extension to Jasleen Kaurs If A then B installation including a video film of hand made brick making intercut with industrial manufacturing along with a vinyl reproduction of a warli interperetation of Carl Andres famous 120 brick sculpture. Stephen Dixon reconfigeured his “Source” piece , with large white birds printed on the gallery floor using white clay to replace the rice flour of the Bapugaon original. New objects were selected for inclusion in “Sketch” which were drawn

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from Stoke- on –Trent, tools and materials were wrapped in used clay workers overalls and added to the Sketch field. Ramesh Hengadi presented a new canvas”Live Wire” created in response to Jason Singh’s experimental sound recordings in Bapugaon, the canvas represents Hengadi’s foray into an expanded field of practice.

Exhibition at Rochadale In January 2017 a group of artists came together for an intensive two-week residency in Bapugaon a remote village in rural Maharastra, India. Warli painters, artists and craft workers, a musician, filmmaker, story-teller, designers and ceramic artists, collaborated in creating an installation in the landscape of the village, as a response to the idea of establishing an art centre as a site for the preservation and development of Warli creative practice. Developing the idea of cross-cultural exchange the artists made a link between the changing Bapugaon village and regeneration ambitions of a UK city, Stoke-on-Trent. At Touchstones Rochdale the Heart:Beat installation was re-configured with new commissioned works introduced. These extended the reflections on the potential consequence of change and highlighting the role of women within Warli traditional and future cultural practice. It included over 30 Warli narrative paintings alongside film works, sculptural pieces, objects and sound works. Featured artists include: Anjum Malik, Anita Balu Mashe, Balu Dumade, Balu Mashe, Jasleen Kaur, Jason Singh, Jay

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Thakkar, Jayshree Hengadi, Jayshree Mashe, Jivya Soma Mashe, Joanne Ayre, Johnny Magee, Kishoor Mashe, Lokesh Ghai, Praveen Mashe, Ramesh Hengadi, Rishav Jain, Sadashiv Mashe, Shantaram Ghorkana, Stephen Dixon and Vijay Mashe. The HeartBeat project is directed by British Ceramics Biennial and has been funded by Arts Council England under the Re-imagine India programme as part of the 70th anniversary of India Independence in 2017.

Reflections

A Warli Story by Jo Ayre, BCB Artist in Residence and BCB Studio Programme Manager Lines, circles and triangles, dots and dashes, leave their white trail across an earth-washed plain. Falling into a Warli painting is a common occurrence when presented with one to gaze upon. The simply constructed figures deny their formulaic production, each possessing character, vigour and intention. They invite an untangling. What activities are being carried out? What story is being told?

Over the past year I have had the pleasure of being part of an artists’ exchange with Warli artists from rural Maharashtra in India and four artists from the UK. In January we were transported swiftly into a whirlwind twoweek residency, where we researched, made work of our own, then helped to bring into reality the first imaginings of a Kendra at Ramesh Hengadi’s home. We worked long days at Ramesh’s house; I was welcomed and found a ‘studio’ space on the porch of their home. This was a special place, somewhere that hens scurried

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through, that ants would occasionally march upon, and where many pairs of eyes would come to peer over the balustrade to see what was going on. They were watching me, but I was watching them too.

I went to see what the women were doing. Before the trip I had been informed of the movement of the painting from wall to canvas, from collective ceremony to individual expression. I was interested to find out how an overwhelming majority of male artists had grown out of a female tradition. I had been researching the work of women in the Potteries, as part of a yearlong residency, and was curious to begin to overlay my understanding of home and work for women in Stoke-on-Trent upon initial impressions of home and work for women in Bapugaon.

This contrast may seem arbitrary but these are two places where the currency of culture is playing a crucial role; in regeneration, the preservation of traditional skills, and, particularly in Bapugaon, the protection of the landscape and the way of life cradled by the local ecology. The materials used to paint in the traditional Warli way, are pigments made from rice flour and cow dung, two abundant materials that are essential to everyday life (the cow dung, mixed with clay, is used to coat the walls and floors of the houses; rice is for eating but also the straw is used for roofing).

The aesthetic of these materials connects visually with clay in an instant, but this resonance runs deeper for me now. For making a Warli painting has a process at its core; a process that for centuries has been executed as a collective. An anonymous activity, albeit with an essential, spiritual,

motivation. The making of ceramics is not rooted in sacred ritual; in fact, many of the practices of our recent industrial past have little more than economic gain at their heart. However, if you speak to someone who worked in the industry it is not long before the sense of camaraderie, the hereditary handing on of skill and the intertwining of life, work and the home, become alive in their account.

Stepping outside of Ramesh’s home, we travelled to adjoining villages, where other ways of making a living, to complement farming, are carried out. We visited the potters, where a husband threw pots, which his wife then burnished, before firing in a kiln in their garden. The experience of visiting a brickyard had a profound effect on all of the artists from the UK, where pairs of husband and wife labour for long hours to mix clay, form bricks, stack them, dry them, then stack again to fire in huge structures. There is nothing to romanticise here, it is hard work in harsh conditions. However, the field of raw bricks, laid like carpets and stacked like screens, is a sight to behold. The vast physical record of the skill and deftness of the brick makers is there in the landscape, and thrown into sharper focus when you realise there are people working in between these rows, shuttling to and fro, or wading chest high in the clay pit, mixing the slurry for the next day’s making.

Despite the briefness of our stay, I felt a connection with Ramesh’s family and friends. I was warmly welcomed into their lives and the source of much amusement, particularly for the children, as I tried to carry things on my head, thresh or pound the rice. The pieces I developed whilst there referenced the domestic activities connected to rice. I worked alongside Rasika, Ramesh’s wife and a painter in her own right, and many other members of the team joined us,

to add grains of rice to one particular piece. There was something special about being part of a collective effort, with our energies all focused on creating a collaborative showcase for the work of the local Warli artists. It was a unique personal experience, but with moments of familiarity, echoing the common endeavour alive at home in Stoke-on-Trent. There are few days that have passed since without a moment to think of Bapugaon, and the experience of the residency is continuing to impact upon my work in the studio, and with others. It has given me a way to step outside, to take a wider view, of the daily rituals that I enact and the activity that surrounds me. Extending the exchange and sharing the experience with others has been a fascinating way to not only observe the infectious appeal of the Warli artwork, but to reflect

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