Gond Art

A unique art form made using dots & dashes!

Morse Code by Gondi tribals... well, not literally :)

Gond tribe is among the largest tribal groups of the world, and spread majorly in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in Central India. And just as most of the other old & deep-rooted tribal art forms, Gond art also find its inspiration in nature. Forests, hills, colorful flora and varied fauna life around the hills, their mythological folklores and their day to day chores, gives them a rich palette of motifs and patterns.

Gondis believe that a good painting brings in good luck and helps ward-off evil; and thus in earlier days, they used to draw it on walls, ceilings and floors of their houses; and they still do so. But now it's also done on canvas and hence this art form has reached all over, from Prime Minister's Office to International art exhibitions, and to our far-off living rooms.

Jangarh Singh Shyam, was a pioneer contemporary Gond artist from Pradhan Gond family, who were traditionally musicians and who used to paint and sing stories of Gond legends, also called as 'bana', and received patronage from the Gond Rajas, which perished gradually. So having an inherent creative background, Jangarh opened a new school of Indian art Jangarh Kalam. His artwork 'Landscape with Spider' was sold for more than $31,000 at New York in 2010, which is, a first for any tribal artist. He was also conferred the Shikhar Samman, the highest civilian award bestowed by the Government of Madhya Pradesh. His paintings mainly depicted Gond deities and animals, and used radial dot pattern to convey movement. His artworks have been exhibited at many places outside India, including Tokyo, Paris and New York.

Bhajju Singh Shyam is another widely known and Jangarh's contemporary artist from Patangarh, who has also received Padma Shri in 2018. In 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted his paintings to QUAD Leaders during his visit to Tokyo.

Image Credits: Jangarh Singh Shyam at Bharat Bhawan | CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED, Shop for Bhajju Shyam's innocent thoughts in his beautiful travelogue to London