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Madhubani Art
Madhubani, which by one account means Forest of Honey, (‘Madhu’-honey, ‘Ban’-forest or woods) is a region in Mithila region of Nepal and the northern part of Bihar. A region that has a distinct regional identity and language that reportedly spans 2500 years.
The original inspiration for Madhubani art emerged from women’s craving for religiousness and an intense desire to be one with God. With the belief that painting something divine would achieve that desire, women began to paint pictures of gods and goddesses with an interpretation so divine that captured the hearts of many.
Madhubani or Mithila painting is done with fingers, nib-pens, twigs and matchsticks. They are uniquely identified by the fact that there is no space in the painting/canvas left uncovered. Typically the paintings will also have a margin or a border, but this too will be embellished with geometrical patters, or flowers or other motifs. Traditionally rice ground into paste was used to create these works of art. Today Madhubani art is practiced on paper, cloth and other medium as well. The colors for the paintings are found in the forest and other natural substances. For instance, charcoal and soot is used for black and rice powder for white.
Warli Art
Warli painting is a tribal art mostly done by Adivasi from North Sahyadri Range in India (Dahanu, Talasari, Jawhar, Palghar, Mokhada, and Vikramgadh).
It’s claimed that the Warlis carry on a tradition stretching back to 2500 or 3000 BCE. Their mural paintings are similar to those done between 500 and 10,000 BCE in the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka, in Madhya Pradesh.
Their extremely rudimentary wall paintings use a very basic graphic vocabulary: a circle, a triangle and a square.Their paintings were monosyllbic. The circle and triangle come from their observation of nature, the circle representing the sun and the moon, the triangle derived from mountains and pointed trees. Only the square seems to obey a different logic and seems to be a human invention, indicating a sacred enclosure or a piece of land.
One of the central striking aspect of many warli painting is the "Tarpa dance"- the tarpa, a trumpet like instrument, is played in turns by different men. Men and women entwine their hands and move in a circle around the tarpa player.The dancers follow the tarpa player, turning and moving as he turns, never turning their back to the tarpa. The circle formation of the dancers is also said to be a resemble the circle of life.