{"id":210581,"date":"2025-04-28T11:02:03","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T11:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/entertainment\/art\/a-gond-art-legend-and-symbol-of-the-struggle-of-i-artisera\/"},"modified":"2025-04-28T11:02:03","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T11:02:03","slug":"a-gond-art-legend-and-symbol-of-the-struggle-of-i-artisera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=210581","title":{"rendered":"A Gond Art Legend and Symbol of the Struggle of I \u2013 Artisera"},"content":{"rendered":"


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One of the largest and oldest tribes in India, the Gonds are well known for their vibrant artworks, through which they narrate intriguing stories. The flagbearer of Gond art and the figure behind the popularity that the art form enjoys today, Jangarh Singh Shyam is celebrated as the first Adivasi artist to gain widespread acclaim. Hailing from Patangarh, Madhya Pradesh, he propelled Gond art into international recognition and is credited with creating a new school of Indian contemporary art called the \u2018Jangarh Kalam.\u2019 One of the first Gond artists to use acrylic on paper and canvas, Jangarh\u2019s incredible talent evoked great admiration and awe, his untimely passing leaving a gaping void in the world of Indian art.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jangarh Singh Shyam (Centre) with his wife Nankusia Bai (Left) and mentor J. Swaminathan (Right) at Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, in 1987 (Photo credit:\u00a0Jyoti Bhatt\/Asia Art Archive\/scroll.in)<\/em><\/p>\n

Murals that Grew into an Artform<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jangarh Singh Shyam was born in 1962, into a Pardhan Gond family in the village of Patangarh in Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh. Growing up in abject poverty, he was forced to quit school and try his hand at farming at a very young age. At the age of 16, he got married to Nankusia Bai from Sonpur village, who would later become his fellow artist. A few years later, still a teenager, Jangarh was \u201cdiscovered\u201d by acclaimed contemporary artist and his future mentor, Jagdish Swaminathan, while he was decorating the walls of huts in Patangarh with traditional motifs, which is a routine part of Gond culture. Impressed by the forms and colours in Jangarh\u2019s art, Swaminathan took him to Bhopal to create murals in the Bharat Bhavan, a renowned multi-arts complex and museum. Thus, began a lifelong collaboration between the two.<\/p>\n

\"\"A mural by Jangarh at Bharat Bhavan, 1997 (Photo Credit: Charles Correa\/scroll.in)<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"Jangarh at work at Bharat Bhavan (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons)<\/em><\/p>\n

Artworks Reverberating with Vibrant Culture<\/strong><\/p>\n

Under artist J. Swaminathan\u2019s guidance, Jangarh learnt and grew as an artist, exploring and pushing the boundaries of what constituted Gond art until then. The Pardhan Gond clan, to which Jangarh belonged, are the minstrels of the Gond community. Like most Adivasi music, Pardhan music takes form in rhythmic vibrations and this reflected in Jangarh\u2019s radiant artworks, made up of numerous intricate and luminous dots, dashes, squiggles and waves. The bright and unconventional colours and textures in Jangarh\u2019s artworks were distinctive of his style, which came to be known as the \u2018Jangarh Kalam.\u2019 A mix of tribal and contemporary art, he created brilliantly textured, dynamic paintings of gods and goddesses, birds, animals and trees.<\/p>\n

\"\"An artwork depicting a snake by Jangarh (Photo Credit: scroll.in)<\/em><\/p>\n

Enchanting stories from the forests of Madhya Pradesh, along with the abundant flora and fauna, and mystical Gond folktales took visual form in Jangarh\u2019s artworks. He also depicted Gond gods and goddesses like Bada Dev, the principal deity, Medi Ki Mata or the protector of the grains, Mashwasi Devi and even Raksa the Gond demon. The artist, who was deeply connected to his roots, used to fear that the gods and goddesses in his works would gain power and come after him, as he drew them.<\/p>\n

\"\"An artwork depicting a Gond goddess by Jangarh (Photo Credit: scroll.in)<\/em><\/p>\n

A Legacy Surviving Through a Clan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jangarh Singh Shyam inspired and encouraged many of his immediate and extended family members to take up painting as their profession, recognising the latent talent that lay within them. Today, most practitioners of Gond art come from the Pardhan Gond clan. Jangarh is survived by his wife, Nankusia Bai, and children, Mayank Shyam and Japani Shyam, who are all renowned Gond artists themselves. The legacy of the \u2018Jangarh Kalam\u2019 is carried forth by many of Jangarh\u2019s extended family members, and his house in Bhopal is abuzz with creative activity. These indigenous artists, with their undying love and flair for art, strive to keep Jangarh\u2019s exceptional legacy and the artistic tradition of Gond art alive and thriving.<\/p>\n

Numerous Awards and Accolades<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1986, five years after his meeting Swaminathan, Jangarh Singh Shyam was conferred with the Shikhar Samman (the Summit Award), the highest civilian award from the Government of Madhya Pradesh. His artworks have been displayed all over the world, including in Bhopal, Delhi, Tokyo and New York. In 1989, Jangarh\u2019s art was displayed in the Pompidou Centre\u2019s Magiciens de la Terre (Magicians of Earth) exhibition in Paris \u2013 one of his most notable exhibitions. His work was also exhibited as part of \u2018Other Masters\u2019 curated by Jyotindra Jain at the Crafts Museum, New Delhi.<\/p>\n

\"\"A mural by Jangarh at the\u00a0Magiciens de la Terre exhibition (Photo Credit: Deidi Von Schaewan\/manoir-martigny.ch)<\/em><\/p>\n

The master of murals, Jangarh had painted the interiors of the Vidhan Bhavan, the Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh, and the dome of the prestigious museum, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal. A first and a landmark achievement for an Adivasi artist, Jangarh\u2019s 1988 work \u2018Landscape with Spider\u2019 sold for $31,250 at Sotheby\u2019s, New York, in 2010.<\/p>\n

\"\"Landscape with Spider, 1988 (Photo Credit: Sotheby’s)<\/em><\/p>\n

Struggles with Prejudice and Marginalisation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Art took Jangarh Singh Shyam far beyond his world of enchanted forests and mystical stories, and across the globe. But despite the popularity that he had garnered, Jangarh was forced to battle prejudice and marginalisation, like most other indigenous artists. There were never enough buyers for his artworks, and he lived with his family in a tin-roofed outhouse in Professors Colony, Bhopal. In a book titled \u2018Jangarh Singh Shyam: The Enchanted Forest\u2019 \u2013 a compilation of Jangarh\u2019s artworks from art scholar and collector Mitchell Abdul Karim Crites\u2019 collection, curated and authored by art historian Aurogeeta Das \u2013 Crites recalls a day Jangarh showed up at his house, insisting that he buy a certain number of paintings. Asked for the reason behind this, the artist softly explained that his buffalo had died and he needed the sum to buy a new one.<\/p>\n

A Tragic, Untimely Passing<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jangarh committed suicide in July 2001, while at an art residency at the Mithila Museum in Japan, for reasons which still remain unclear. He was 39. According to news reports, the artist had been persuaded to take up the residency for a low monthly fee, and his stay at the museum was extended by three weeks without consent, which led to a bout of depression and ultimately, his death. In the letters that Jangarh wrote home, he spoke of loneliness.<\/p>\n

\"\"An artwork by Jangarh (Photo Credit: indulgexpress.com)<\/em><\/p>\n

The Mithila Museum, which faced immense flak from Jangarh\u2019s family and the Indian art community, wrote off any foul play in the artist\u2019s death. The founder-director of the museum, Tokio Hasegawa, infamously declared that he had not \u201cbudgeted\u201d for Jangarh\u2019s remains to be sent to Bhopal, proposing cremation in Japan. But the body was eventually transported to Bhopal, where last rites were performed. Jangarh\u2019s suicide called immediate attention to the struggle and widespread exploitation of indigenous artists and how they need to be protected, along with their artforms.<\/p>\n

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Jangarh\u2019s passion and dedication towards art was well known. The young artist was elated to be a part of the contemporary art world and embraced its numerous opportunities, unarmed. \u201cThe first time I dipped my brush in bright poster colours in Bhopal, tremors went through my body,\u201d he once said. Jangarh was regarded as a great artist by the stalwarts of Indian modern art like M.F. Husain, Gulam Mohammed Sheikh and Manjit Bawa. But not once, in life or death, did the brilliant Gond artist, in his quest for self-realisation and self-expression in the modern world, come to equal the great moderns\u2019 price or repute.<\/p>\n

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