God’s Own Artist

Jivya Soma Mashe has won the Prince Claus award for his reinvention of Warli art.

His paintings reflect his tribe’s deep connection with nature. Circles inspired by the sun, triangles to depict the mountains and trees, neat lines to represent life and movement—Jivya Soma Mashe’s art is refreshingly direct. Heralded by critics as the MF Husain of tribal art, this septuagenarian broke the tradition of the Warli tribe of Maharashtra by painting not just during festivals. He was recently honoured in the capital with the prestigious Prince Claus award for his reinvention of an art vocabulary that was fast disappearing.

Warli art has very interesting origins. Having no script of its own, the tribe uses drawings to document celebrations, myths and folktales. Essentially practiced by women called suvasinis, who use rice paste and herbs to draw on the walls of their houses, each drawing is an ode to Mother Earth. Mashe pioneered the participation of men in this art form, and transformed the very nature of the drawings as well. “Earlier women would draw whatever was in the line of sight, say trees, rivers, the sun. But with the entry of men, each drawing became a story. Even themes like train journeys and a day at a workplace have found a place in the art,” he says.

Mashe’s interest in Warli painting began at the age of seven, when he lost his mother. The shock robbed him of speech for several years, but he communicated by drawing in the mud. “Though I worked as a labourer for many years, I was always interested in our tribe’s art,” he says. A chance encounter with Bhaskar Kulkarni, then a Handloom Handicrafts Export Corporation officer, transformed his life.

Kulkarni took his paintings to Delhi. “Even Indira Gandhi saw my art and called four suvasinis and me to showcase our work,” reminisces Mashe. He also introduced him to the use of poster colours. “I also began to draw on paper and canvas as opposed to walls. This made my work more mobile,” Mashe says.

Mashe has come a long way indeed. He won the National Award in 1976, exhibited at the Magiciens de Terre in Paris in 1982, as well as in Japan, Canada and Germany. His work is also part of the collections of international museums. “When I first went to Germany, the crowd went berserk. In Japan, I even taught students for several months. But my dream is to create awareness about this art among the locals,” he says. It is to this end that Mashe has started a school in his village, where he teaches 25 students the nuances of Warli art.

His most cherished memory is of his trip to London with Indira Gandhi. “She was so impressed with my work that she promised me land in my village,” he says. It’s another matter that Mashe got the land on paper, but never saw it. “What matters more is the experience of being in the presence of a great lady like her. My work is to create awareness about our tribe’s rich culture. The rest will follow,” he says.

Jivya Soma MashePrince Claus awardWarli art