Warli Art- Tribal Art of India
Written by Agrima Mohan
Warli Art and Warli painting are tribal art done majorly by the Adivasi community located in North Sahyadri Range in western India. The Warli community is the largest tribe located on the outskirts of Mumbai.
Despite its close proximity to Mumbai, the Warli tribesmen have been able to shun most influences caused by urbanization. The art form was first discovered in the early seventies.
According to Yashodhara Dalmia, “when Warli painting was first discovered in the early 1970s, it created a huge sensation in many aspects because these paintings were very unique to that of other folk paintings in India.”
Warli as we know it today was introduced due to the efforts of the late Bhaskar Kulkarni. He encouraged the Warli artists to paint their art on paper instead of the mud walls of their huts.
The monotony of Warli being a married women-wall art tradition was broken by Jivya Soma Mashe. He experimented with non-ritual paintings and created new images depicting everyday life.