UPSC Issue at a Glance | Beyond the Ghibli trend: A glimpse into Indian Painting styles

( Relevance: UPSC Syllabus General Studies-I, II: Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times, Awareness in the fields of IT  and issues relating to intellectual property rights.)

Ongoing viral Ghibli trend and associated concerns

Fans of Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation studio behind Academy Award-winning animated movies such as Spirited Away (2001) and The Boy and The Heron (2023), were delighted this week when  ChatGPT’s 4o model let them convert photos into the Ghibli style, and within a few hours, the ChatGPT-converted Ghibli-style photos became viral on social media platforms.

However, the trend also highlighted legal and ethical concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) tools trained on copyrighted creative works and what that means for the future livelihoods of human artists. In this context, an old clip of Miyazaki has resurfaced in which he has expressed strong reservations about using AI to create art. In 2016, Miyazaki said he was disgusted by AI-generated animation and called it an “insult to life itself”.

While the Ghibli trend continues to captivate social media, it also highlights the copyright concern. As Sudhanshu Mishra writes, “AI-generated images don’t appear out of thin air; they are built on the work of countless artists, often without their knowledge or consent. OpenAI’s latest rollout was so controversial that within hours, it had to restrict certain styles — due to copyright concerns. That alone says everything.”

Beyond the copyright concern, Ghibli trend also raises ethical dilemma on the AI replacing art. In this context, Sudhanshu Mishra writes, “art isn’t just about the final image, efficiency, or automation. It’s about the hands that shape it, the stories woven into it, and the years of dedication behind it. It is about the imperfect, the irreplaceable, the deeply personal.”

AI, for all its technical prowess, doesn’t understand storytelling. It doesn’t understand emotion. It scrapes and mimics, flattening the richness of true artistry into a one-size-fits-all template…The danger isn’t that AI exists. It’s that we’re too willing to accept its imitations as equals.

However, some people have seen ongoing trend as the democratisation of art through AI which does not erase art or the artist but merely expands the sandbox. As Aishwarya Khosla writes-

“Just as photography did not kill painting, AI will not kill art. Thanks to AI, the world of art is expanding, making room for new tools, new voices, and new possibilities.”

As the Ghiblification trend unfolds and rapid advancement in AI continues to surprise the world, various ethical and legal questions, such as what it means for a studio to have a particular style and what happens when thousands of people may use technology to recreate it, are yet to receive definitive answers.

After knowing about the Ghibli trend and associated concerns, now let’s look at some of the major Indian painting styles that embody India’s rich artistic heritage.

Some of the Major Indian Painting Styles

Painting is one of the most delicate forms of art, giving expression to human thoughts and feelings through the medium of line and colour. India has a rich and vast spectrum of painting styles, and these art forms vary from region to region. Each style of painting represents tradition, customs, and ideologies passed on from one generation to another. Here are some of the popular Indian painting styles:

Madhubani Paintings

Madhubani art, also known as Mithila painting, is practiced in the Mithila region of India and Nepal. The art form dates back to the 7th century AD. Traditionally, the art form was passed on from generation to generation of women in the region. The painting was done with twigs, fingers, natural dyes and pigments.

Madhubani painting plays a crucial role in preserving and promoting the cultural heritage of the Mithila region. (Source: Vidushini Prasad)

Themes generally revolve around Hindu deities like Krishna, Ram, Shiv, Durga, Laxmi, Kali and Saraswati. Natural objects like the sun and moon and religious plants like Tulsi and social events like weddings also are subjects of painting. Madhubani paintings received a Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2007. In the modern context, Madhubani paintings have found their way onto canvas, paper, fabric, and even digital mediums.

Patachitra Paintings

A traditional style of painting, Patachitra is believed to have originated in Odisha and, through the intricate style, artists create hand-painted works on cloth-based scrolls usually depicting mythological scenes or traditional folklore. The colours primarily used are natural and earthy like blue, white, red, a palette.

Patachitra is believed to be one of the oldest forms of folk painting in Bengal. (Express Photo by Shashi Ghosh)

Pithora Paintings

Pithora paintings are traditionally done on walls that are characterised by seven horses representing the seven hills that surround the area bordering Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, which is home to the Rathwa community that makes these paintings. These wall murals are created as offerings to Pithora, the God of food grains. They are only painted by men commonly in the Chhotaudepur area of Gujarat.

A village scene depicted in a Pithora painting on a cloth. (Source: Swasti Pachauri)

The paintings are rich with imagery from their everyday life – elephants, men, women, arms and musical instruments, besides weddings, festivals and celebrations. The paint is prepared by mixing pigments with milk and liquor prepared from the mahuda tree. Painters use a combination of bamboo sticks, cotton and wooden stencils to create their art. Although it is traditionally practiced only as wall art, today’s generation of pithora painters use paper and canvas that they sell commercially.

Warli Paintings

Warli painting is a unique art form of painting made by the Warli tribe of Maharashtra. Its uniqueness lies in its resemblance with cave paintings of the prehistoric period. These paintings are traditionally painted with whole rice paste on the house walls made up of Karvi sticks on which clay and cow-dung are smeared. This art form received the GI tag in 2014.

Warli art has its root in the Warli region of Maharashtra (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)

Kalamkari Paintings

Kalamkari painting is a traditional Indian art form renowned for its intricate patterns and vibrant colors. The word ‘Kalamkari’ means creating something with a ‘kalam’, or a brush. Traditionally, only three colours are used — black, red and yellow. But lately, ‘pale blue’ has also started being used, states the Tamil Nadu Weatherman.

Originating from the modern-day states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Kalamkari art is known for its delicate and detailed designs. This art form captures India’s deep cultural history and artistic traditions.

The paintings are intricately made on a cotton cloth using pens or brushes made out of bamboo tree and coconut tree stems. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Popular motifs in Kalamkari include the Tree of Life, symbolizing nourishment, and scenes from epic tales such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, as well as themes based on Buddhism. The intricate designs and natural colors of Kalamkari continue to captivate art enthusiasts worldwide, reflecting the timeless beauty and cultural significance of this ancient practice.

Thanjavur Paintings

Thanjavur painting is a classical art form from South India. It originated in the town of Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu. This art style is renowned for its vibrant colors, surface richness, compact composition, and, most notably, the use of gold foil to create a dazzling effect. The primary subjects of Tanjore paintings are Hindu gods and goddesses, saints, and episodes from Hindu mythology. Tanjore painting reflects the rich cultural and religious heritage of South India. This painting style received the GI tag in 2007.

Gond Paintings

It is a folk art form originating from the Gond tribal community of Madhya Pradesh. Gond paintings captures the essence of nature and daily life with its distinctive style. This painting style is known for its vivid colors, bold lines, and intricate designs. Gond art is a testament to the rich cultural heritage of the Gond people.

In Gond paintings, artists employ fine lines, dots, and dashes to create intricate textures, depicting flora, fauna, and mythological narratives with unparalleled beauty. Gond Painting of Madhya Pradesh was recognised with the GI tag in 2023.

Gond painting from Dindori, Madhya Pradesh (Source: Swasti Pachauri)

Gond art has flourished and taken diverse trajectories, on canvas and beyond. While urban themes are now commonplace, the repetitive lines and minuscule dots have come together to illustrate several books and also entered homes in the form of murals and everyday objects.

Kangra Paintings

Kangra painting is the pictorial art of Kangra, named after Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, a former princely state, which patronised the art. This art form became prevalent with the fading of the Basohli school of painting in the mid-18th century and soon produced such a magnitude of paintings, both in content and volume, that the Pahari painting school came to be known as Kangra paintings.

Kangra paintings. (Source: Kangra Arts Promotion Society)

Kangra paintings typically include themes of nature, mythology, and spirituality, portraying a deep bond between human emotions and the natural world. The paintings are characterised by their fine lines, delicate colours, and intricate brushwork. Notably, Kangra paintings  received GI Tag in 2014.

Post Read Questions

Prelims

(1) Consider the following pairs: (UPSC CSE 2009)

Tradition                                                                                 State
1. Gatka, a traditional martial art:                                            Kerala
2. Madhubani, a traditional painting:                                      Bihar
3. Singhey Khababs Sindhu Darshan Festival :             Jammu and Kashmir

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 1, 2 and 3

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 3 only

(2) With reference to the Warli painting, consider the following statements:

1. It is a unique art in the form of painting made by the Warli tribe of Karnataka.

2. Its uniqueness lies in its resemblance with cave paintings of the prehistoric period.

3. These paintings are traditionally painted with whole rice paste on the house walls made up of Karvi stick.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

(3) These paintings are traditionally done on walls. They are only painted by men commonly in the Chhotaudepur area of Gujarat. The paintings are rich with imagery from their everyday life – elephants, men, women, arms and musical instruments, besides weddings, festivals and celebrations.

The above-mentioned lines refer to which of the following paintings?

(a) Warli Paintings

(b) Kalamkari Paintings

(c) Pithora Paintings

(d) Kalighat Paintings

Mains

While banging out their salient features, distinguish between either ‘Madhubani’ Art and ‘Manjusha’ Art or’ Rajasthani’ schools of painting and the’ Pahari’ School of Painting. (UPSC CSE 2011)

(Sources: This Word Means: Studio Ghibli, ChatGPT’s viral Studio Ghibli-style images highlight AI copyright concerns, AI-generated ‘Ghibli’ animations are impressive. But are they art?, Just as photography did not kill painting, Ghiblification is unlikely to kill art, Pithora paintings, gujarattourism.com, indiaculture.gov.in, lalitkala.gov.in)

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