Capturing the Folk tradition

Counted among the early modernist painters of twentieth century art, eminent Bengali artist Jamini Roy’s work is a prime example of including marginalised communities with in a beautiful story Centuries old paintings of modernist painter Jamini Roy are being showcased to understand how his works lived beyond their time. Curated by critic Uma Nair and titled ‘Carved Contours’, the exhibit represents Jamini’s inspiration from the Kalighat and Pat traditions of Bengal. Done on cloth, board and paper, they feature simple monumental images of sari-clad women, village dancers and domestic animals besides Madonna, Christ and the famed Ramayana series. “All of it eminently exemplifies his strikingly formalist pictorial language,” shares Uma.

She adds, “The 80 works belong to Ravi and Uma Jain estate and showcase the long association of the artist with the family. That is why the catalogue begins with a portrait done by Jamini and represents a beautiful friendship that goes back in time.”

While the coloured works by the modernist master have their own charm. The uniqueness of this exhibition lies in the 50 unseen drawings on display. “By looking at the works you see his love for the aboriginal Santhals. He knew his post-impressionism grammar and techniques. He painted on woven mats and cloth and silk. In the mats you see him using the mosaic texture of the Byzantine period with two Christ- like figures shown clearly. It also depicts his love for spirituality in the way he has made the Krishna, Ramayana and Christ series,” shares Uma.

The mother and child figure is another recurring subject in Jamini’s works. According to the curator, the study of the relationship between a mother and a child by the Bengal master represents pearls of posterity. “The Santhal woman and her child is older-more natural. It is said that at the end of 20 years of doing this series he finally brought it down to six strokes.”

Trained under the Bengal School of Art, under the mentorship of Abanindranath Tagore, Jamini shifted from the academic tradition of drawing classical nudes to capturing the simplicity of the tribal livelihood in his art where he extensively painted the Santhal community of Bengal. Uma says, “His main subjects were the humble simple people from the Santhal tribe. He translated the imagery of a Christian story of Jesus into Santhal figures with their well-built torsos. His love for the sun-burnt brown bodies and the ideation of creating so many studies of musicians and the stories of the Ramayana with Santhals as his subjects became a lesson in the power of carrying forward the myth.”

Many contemporaries have criticised his style of work too. Talking about them, Uma says, “I think it shows their lack of indepth study. As an artist, he was the embodiment of a spiritual flavour with a nationalist mood. He created the Indian insignia with so much passion and love. He fused folk idioms with Santhal subjects. It is a prime example of stepping out and including the marginalised in his work with a beautiful story with sensitivity.”

Talking about curating the works of a legendary artist, Uma says, “It begins as a responsibility and you immerse yourself in the physicality of the visual image as well as the context in which it is created. I researched for many days at the Lalit Kala Akademi Library. The research gave me a bird’s eye view that morphed into a fish eye lens. I loved the simplicity and the poise that he captures. He was looking at the universality of tradition and he celebrated the rural is so Gandhian. I also read that his whole idea of art subjects changed after he read Rabindranath Tagore’s Tapoban.”