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India Art Fair 2023 commenced on Thursday with 86 exhibitors, including 72 galleries and 12 institutions. As you enter the NSIC Exhibition Grounds in Okhla, you’ll be met with not just a crowd of eager art lovers but also a breathtaking façade featuring an intricate Warli mural by Vayeda brothers, Mayur and Tushar. Titled ‘Forests of the Future’, it is the artists’ first digital take on the traditional art of Warli painting, which they have been practising for almost 12 years now.
The façade aims to celebrate the Warli community and its ancestors with deep research into Warli traditions, mythological stories, and rituals. “It is based and inspired by the nature surrounding the Warli community, especially in the Sahayadri ranges — where we also live. From the outside, growing infrastructure looks good in the name of development. But where we live, we experience all that’s happening around our ecosystem, diversity, forest, community, and culture,” Mayur told indianexpress.com at the India Art Fair, where the brother duo is also presenting a range of their other Warli paintings in association with Ojas Art.
This ever-evolving ecosystem and what we need for the future are what’s been brought forward by the Warli façade, the brothers added. Mayur further shared that earlier, people of the Warli community used to paint on caves and mud walls. “After that, paper and canvas came into the picture. And now, we are trying to find more possibilities and opportunities to reproduce Warli art in the right direction,” he said.
The artist duo highlighted that tribal art, in India, is “underrated” in many ways. “People still look at Warli as a decorative art. So, we really want to find the right place and platform where we can celebrate our centuries-old heritage,” Mayur added.
As a new generation of Warli artists, Mayur and Tushar are trying to set milestones for the upcoming generations of the Warli community and archive all the stories that are not written anywhere. “All of these stories and aspirations are visible on the façade of India Art Fair 2023,” they said.
The façade, according to the Vayeda brothers, features the various motifs traditionally used by the Warli community. “Tushar and I are focusing on the miniature part of Warli. We always try to present this miniature part on a larger scale. This is the first time we created a digital work; we had absolutely no experience in the same,” Mayur shared.
Expressing his happiness over the façade featuring their artwork, Mayur said, “I am elated. I came in the morning and was very excited to see the façade come to life along with the various panels. It’s the best feeling to be the face of the India Art Fair this year. Last year, we were here and discussed about the day we would exhibit here. Today, we are on the façade.”
With the Warli art being recognised on such larger platforms, the Vayeda brothers shared that the art tradition is now finding the right direction which is very important for the young artists to give something back to the community. “These kinds of platforms are the right place for us and other tribal artists in India,” they concluded.
Prior to this, Mayur and Tushar painted a wall in Lodhi Colony, New Delhi, famous for its striking wall artworks.
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