Gond Paintings From Madhya Pradesh Gets GI Tag, Here's All You Need To Know About It

After Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi's 'banarasi' Paan and 'langda' mango, Madhya Pradesh's famed Gond painting has been designated as a Geographical Indication (GI). Here's all that you need to know.

Madhya Pradesh's famous Gond paintings have been designated as a Geographical Indication (GI). A geographical Indication (GI) tag is a label placed on products that have a specific geographical origin and have qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. It is used in industrial products, foods, agricultural products, spirit drinks, and handicrafts. GI Tag ensures that no one other than the registered authorised user is permitted to use the popular product's name.

What Are Gond Paintings: 

Gond painting is a traditional Madhya Pradesh art form associated with the Gond tribe. Patangarh village in the Dindori district is well-known for its gond paintings. There is an artist in every house in this village. Their work is well-known not only in the state but also internationally, as these paintings have a distinct style and art that captivates due to their unique theme. For centuries, Gond art has reigned supreme, adorning the walls of each artist's Patangarh home.

'Matter Of Pride For Us': Famous Gond Artist Bhajju Shyam: 

Padma Shri awardee and well-known Gond artist Bhajju Shyam stated, "It's a matter of pride for us. People from tribal and Gond-dominated communities will now benefit directly from this." "They tell us about nature, trees, plants, animals, moon, sun, river, drains, God and Goddesses," the Padma Shri awardee said of Gond paintings.

'Just Not Medium Of Employment, It's Our Identity': 

Speaking to ANI, Dindori collector Vikas Mishra said: "Gondi painting is not just a medium of employment for us, it is our identity, our respect, and our symbol. The whole human life and its journey are shown through the painting. Each painting is a story in itself. We have made Amarkantak the centre of point for its promotion and we are routing the big hotels of Jabalpur as well."

History Of Gond Paintings: 

Mapping lineage is the most problematic area in folk and tribal arts, according to the government of India's Indian Culture website, because of the limited availability of archival resources or objects, as well as the inherent impermanence of the materials and methods involved in the creative process. 

In this context, the historical evolution of 'Gond,' or Pardhan painting, or 'Jangarh kalam,' must be understood. Gonds, a community of approximately four million people spread across central India, have a recorded history dating back 1400 years. The term "Gond" is derived from the Dravidian expression "Kond," which means "green mountain," according to the website. 

The Contributions Of J Swaminathan: The Bharat Bhavan art centre in Bhopal, Central India, was founded in the early 1980s with the goal of creating a common space for all types of contemporary art practises. J Swaminathan, a modern Indian painter, and activist, led this mission with a passion for bringing forth the creative expressions of India's rural folk and tribal societies. J. Swaminathan organised young artist groups to explore such expressions in rural areas. A group of such artists discovered a brilliant wall painting done by a young manual labourer named Jangarh Singh Syam, who later became a legendary name in the history of Gond painting while travelling in village Pattangarh.

The Arrival Of Visual Vocabulary In Gond Paintings: Jangarh Singh Syam was invited to Bharat Bhavan, where his creative practise changed dramatically. His background in traditional music and storytelling provided him with a wealth of narratives to articulate and transform into paintings. This was a rare instance in Indian contemporary art in which a traditional/folk artist effectively adopted new materials and tools such as canvases, acrylic, oil, and pen, resulting in unexpected results. Jangar's works began to appear in galleries around the world and were met with great enthusiasm. From the mid-1980s to 1995, more than a hundred painters from the Pardhaan community practised painting.

These artists created a new visual vocabulary by giving concrete visual shapes to their myths, legends, fables, tattoos, and music, which had previously been hidden from 'mainstream' society.

The Gond artists have developed their own devices to work with various contemporary mediums and materials over the years. They would start by making dots and calculating the volume of the images. These dots would be connected to form an outer shape, which would then be coloured. Each object they come across in life is aesthetically transformed as they respond to the immediate social situation and environment.