Chhattisgarh’s Dokra art to Gujarat’s Warli paintings: PM Modi gifts tribal artwork to foreign leaders | India News
The handpicked gifts reflect PM Modi‘s special focus to the promotion of Indian tribal art and culture across the globe.
Here’s what the Prime Minister gifted the leaders of Australia, Brazil, Cook Islands, Tonga, Canada, Tuvalu, Niue and Comoros:
Dokra art
PM Modi chose to gift Dokra, one of India’s prehistoric art forms crafted by artisans from Chattisgarh, to the leaders of Australia, Brazil, Cook Islands and Tonga. The common themes of Dokra art revolve around figurines of Hindu gods & goddesses and different animals.
Gift to Australia
Gift to Cook Islands
One of the earliest expressions of this ancient art form is the dancing girl artefact found in Mohenjo-Daro and Harappan excavations. Dokra is a nonтАУferrous metal casting that uses the lost-wax casting technique. This sort of metal casting has been used in India for over 4,000 years.
Gift to Tonga
Gift to Brazil
Gond paintings
For his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau, PM Modi picked Gond paintings which are considered one of the most admired tribal art forms.
The word ‘Gond’ comes from the expression ‘Kond’ meaning ‘green mountain’. Created by dots and lines, these painting have been a part of pictorial art on walls and floors of Gonds and it is done with the construction and re-construction of each and every house, with locally available natural colours and materials like charcoal, coloured soil, plant sap, leaves, cow dung, limestone powder etc.
Gift to Canada
PM Modi presented the same art form to Tuvalu leadership as well.
The Prime Minister had in 2022 gifted Madhya Pradesh-origin Gond art to Australia’s Anthony Albanese during their meeting on the sidelines of the Quad Leaders’ Summit in Tokyo. Gond art is considered very similar to Aboriginal art of Australia. The Aborigines have their own stories like the Gonds do about creation.
Gift to Tuvalu
Pithora art
Pithora folk art, by the Rathwa artisans from Chhota Udaipur in Gujarat, was presented by PM Modi to Niue leader. It is considered a living testament of an ever-changing ethos exemplifying highly enriched folk and tribal art culture of Gujarat.
Gift to Niue
A ritualistic tribal folk art, Pithora as a mural has a special significance in the annals of the cultural anthropology. It brings a sense of exuberant energy in colour dating back to mankindтАЩs earliest expressions in creativity.
Warli paintings
The Prime Minister chose to gift the leader from Comoros Warli paintings which illustrate the exuberant celebration of the meeting of the earth and the sky. This form is from Gujarat’s Chhota Udaipur region.
Gift to Comoros
The paintings were originally depicted as murals on kitchen hearths in Warli homes. Today these paintings are celebrated and are gracing elite homes, exhibition spaces and have established the warli as modern painters.
