Bhuri Bai’s murals will feature scenes from the life of the Bhil community.
Credit: Special arrangement/Anuraag Mehendiratta
Padma Shri awardee Bhuri Bai has been roped in to paint the wall outside the Museum of Art and Photography (MAP) on Kasturba Road. The work began in early November and is likely to conclude by the end of the month.
The Bhil artist from Madhya Pradesh has travelled to Bengaluru with a group comprising her family and friends to paint three murals.
“This is the first time I am painting on such a large wall but I am having a great experience working on it,” says Bhuri, the first woman from her community to take up the art form, usually practised by the male head priest in rural Madhya Pradesh.
Talking about the challenges of working on a wall, Bhuri who practises on canvas, explains that it requires much more control over the brush. She must also take care to ensure the paint doesn’t drip.
The art form of the Bhil tribe, called Pithora, traditionally features motifs from village life filled in with multiple uniform dots. For the MAP wall, Bhuri will create murals depicting “the transition of life of a community from a rural to a more urban setting”, shares Arnika Ahldag, curator.
Local festivals, a pregnant woman being carried away, a Mahua tree being tapped and people working in the fields are some of the elements that will be part of the murals.