Warli Art

The tribal art with oodles of rustic charm

What is Warli Art? Warli painting is a style of art. This art is by the tribal people in the (North Sahyadri Range) in India. The Warli tribes live on both sides of Maharashtra and Gujarat’s borders, and they speak an unwritten Warli language that belongs to the southern zone of Indo-Aryan languages. 

These tribes have their own history passed down through word-of-mouth, which is difficult as most records were lost due to natural disasters or invasion by other countries such as Portugal or England with little effort made to keep them alive. 

This ancient genre was created thousands of years ago around 3000 BC but has been updated over time to fit modern needs though nobody knows for sure where it all started from because no one can trace its roots back very far; some even speculate it may date back much further than what we know about now. 

Some theories suggest these paintings may have been used originally for medicinal purposes when illnesses like rheumatic fever became prevalent amongst communities who had unrestricted access to water resources (due only partly because drinking fresh water causes bacterial growth) so doctors would paint blood onto patients’ skin as a form treatment (a practice called Kali Dhara).

These paintings are done to spread togetherness. Warli Art is based on nature, emphasizing wildlife and nature as a result of its beliefs in the relationship between man and his surroundings.

Warli Art

Warli Art is known for its single-color depictions that express folk life customs, imaginations and beliefs. The sobriety in these colors contrasts with the happiness portrayed through the content found within them. 

These topics are repetitively used throughout many paintings but each artist will have their own take on ways to portray them. Some may include horses while others will not. 

The paintings are wonderfully painted and often feature themes of human figures involved in activities such as sowing, harvesting, hunting, and dancing. They resemble ancient cave art in execution.

As mentioned before this painting represents Palghat (the marriage god), it often includes a horse toy for bride & groom to use during weddings as well as being sacred without it the marriage doesn’t happen- this shows social/religious aspirations Warlis have.

Warli paintings are about the daily life and simple pleasures of Warli tribes. The typical shapes used in these paintings include triangles, circles, squares, dots and crooked lines which depict human figures or animals. 

As painting brushes, they utilize a bamboo stick with the end chewed to make it soft. White paste produced from rice mixed with liquid gum as a binding material is used to paint mud walls.

The most significant function of Warli Art is that it relates to social life rather than mythological figures or symbols of deities. Pictures of animals and humans, as well as situations from ordinary life, are depicted in a rhythmic pattern.

Warli Art would be painted over a brown background–which would be mud mixed that resembles cow dung cakes for their pigment; what they use for coloring is just plain old rice-paste mix.

For more posts like this visit Tribal Handcrafts blog.