Warli art to adorn walls in City

Palike to erase existing paintings depicting States history, culture

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) has decided to erase paintings on the City walls that brought it disrepute and repaint them with a tribal art form, which has its root in Warli, a hamlet in Thane, Maharashtra.

Former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, in a written reply to the legislature, had said in March 2010 that the paintings donning public walls in the City depict the rich and vibrant culture and history of the State and the project also aims at educating people about the same.

Two years later, the BBMP, which recently decided to hock Utility building, is waiting for the Commissioner’s nod to replace these wall paintings with Warli art.

The art form, considered niche, could date all the way back to 3,000 BC. Yashodhara Dalmia, an artist and an author has, in her book titled ‘The Painted World of the Warlis’ claimed that the Warli paintings were monosyllabic. 

The art form is described to be extremely rudimentary and use a very basic graphic vocabulary: a circle, a triangle and a square. 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.

The Palike had earlier painted many walls in the City with murals depicting the culture and history of Karnataka, but hoped that the Warli paintings would add to the aesthetics of the City. The new paintings will provide artistic relief to citizens, a Palike official said.He also conceded that there have been other serious issues with the existing paintings. “From paint quality to ad-hoc impressions of people and historic sites, the wall paintings did not have appeal,” he said. To address the lacuna, the Palike opted for the Warli art form.

According to officials, the art form which dons a portion of the Palike headquarter’s walls, has been appreciated by citizens and the artists’ community. “While the art form is extremely attractive, it is expensive due to the high labour and paint costs,” the official explained.

The artists demand Rs 60 to draw painting on a square foot while the Palike had paid only Rs 25 per sqft on the existing paintings. “We will invite tenders for the art work soon after obtaining a final ratification by the Palike Commissioner,” he said.