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This traditional art form from Odisha draws heavily from Indian mythology. Its name translates to "cloth" and "picture" and the base used for painting is integral to the art form. This painting technique originated in the Puri district of the State.

Pattachitra is a disciplined form of art and come with a set of rules and restrictions. A floral border is a must in Pattachitra paintings, and so is the use of natural colours, restricting them to a single tone. This creates a distinct look and feel that is typical to Pattachitra and cannot be replicated.

The lines are bold and clean, and sharp. Generally, there are no landscapes, perspectives, and distant views. All the incidents are seen in close juxtaposition. The Pattachitra style is a mix of both folk and classical elements.

With the passage of time, the art of Pattachitra has gone through a commendable transition and the chitrakars have painted on palm leaves and tussar silk. Pattachitra are now being painted on sarees, bags, wall hangings and even on showpieces. However, this kind of innovativeness has never proved to be a hindrance in their customary depiction of figures and the use of colours, which has remained intact throughout generations.

Credit : World Art Community

Picture Credit : Google

You may have seen this traditional painting technique several times on garments, and might have even worn one of them. This laborious form of painting from Andhra Pradesh, which was once influenced by Persian art, usually has textile as its base. Traditionally, it has religious motifs and only organic dyes are used. It has two main approaches - the Srikalahasti style and Machilipatnam style.

In ancient times, groups of singers, musicians and painters, called chitrakattis, moved village to village to tell the village dwellers, the great stories of Hindu mythology. They illustrated their accounts using large bolts of canvas painted on the spot with simple means and dyes extracted from plants. In the same way, one found in the Hindu temples large panels of kalamkari depicting the episodes of Indian mythology, similar to the stained glasses of the Christian cathedrals.

As an art form it found its peak in the wealthy Golconda sultanate, Hyderabad, in the Middle Ages. The Mughals who patronized this craft in the Coromandel and Golconda province called the practitioners of this craft "qualamkars", from which the term "kalamkari" evolved.

Kalamkari art has been practiced by many families in Andhra Pradesh and over the generations has constituted their livelihood. Kalamkari had a certain decline, then it was revived in India and abroad for its craftsmanship. Since the 18th century the British liked the decorative element for clothing.

Credit : Unnati Skills

Picture Credit : Google

This tribal art form from Maharashtra is used a medium by the tribe to convey their customs and lifestyle. It is traditionally painted in the form of a mural and has motifs such as stick human figures, markets, and animals. Conventionally, the paintings are made using ground rice and not paint. The consistent repetition of motifs and patterns stand out.

Collection of tribal arts has historically been inspired by the Western myth of the “noble savage”, and lack of cultural context has been a challenge with the Western mainstream public’s perception of tribal arts. In the 19th century, non-western art was not seen by mainstream Western art professional as being as art at all. The art world perception of tribal arts is becoming less paternalistic, as indigenous and non-indigenous advocates have struggled for more objective scholarship of tribal art. Before Post-Modernism emerged in the 1960s, art critics approached tribal arts from a purely formalist approach, that is, responding only to the visual elements of the work and disregarding historical context, symbolism, or the artist’s intention.

Major exhibitions of tribal arts in the late 19th through mid-20th centuries exposed the Western art world to non-Western art. Major exhibitions included the Museum of Modern Art’s 1935 Africa Negro Art and 1941 Indian Art of the United States. Exposure to tribal arts provide inspiration to many modern artists, notably Expressionists, Cubists, and Surrealists, notably Surrealist Max Ernst. Cubist painter, Pablo Picasso stated that “primitive sculpture has never been surpassed.”

Credit : Cultural Anthropology 

Picture Credit : Google