Gond, Korku and Warli give a new lease of life, financial empowerment to women in rural MP, Maharashtra

On the fringes of our bustling world — filled with its endless cacophony of cultural evolution characterised by changing trends, seasonal styles, contemporary art, nouveau cinema and fast fashion — are many other worlds slipping away quietly into oblivion. However, we are too preoccupied to notice most of it.

In India, one such thing is the space to resuscitate dying art forms. As a result, many forms of tribal art are getting pushed into endangerment. Be it the depiction of simple joys in Santhal paintings or the astonishing picture stories of Manjusha folk art, they are all standing at the doorway of oblivion. Another tribal art form, Gond — which almost died during the Mughal times and the British era and was brought back to life in the ’80s by some artists — is again staring at hard times in the post-pandemic period.

Its fate now is in the hands of some rural women in Madhya Pradesh (from where the art form originated) who are trying hard to keep this 1,400-year-old legacy of the Gond tribe alive.


In this group is Sazia, a Class XII student and a resident of Borda (a small village on the outskirts of Bhopal). She has been making Gond art merchandise for the past five years. “I am very proud to know that my work, in a small way, contributes to keeping an art form alive,” she says, and adds that the most special thing about this art is its depiction of sudden movements, the plight of fancies, bright animal motifs and its dot and oval patterns.

An arts student, Sazia wants to study history in college and is hopeful that her earnings from this endeavour will help her realise her dream.

“In the past, the money that I got by making Gond art merchandise has helped in my self-development, and it has made me financially self-reliant from an early age. I want to go to college, and I’m more confident I will be able to do so because I have this earning,” she says.

Her mother Shakila, 48, earns a living by making Gond art clothing and other merchandise. “I started making them almost 8 years ago. It was my first job. Since then, I have not asked for money from anyone. That’s the most important thing to me,” says Shakila, whose husband is a labourer.

Including Sazia and her mother, there are 30 women from the Borda village who make Gond art-based items. Shabnam, a 40-year-old villager, says that while she enjoys stitching and making different things with the patterns of Gond art, she feels empowered to know that if her husband’s job is ever at stake (like it was during the pandemic), she has her own money stashed away for rainy days.

“I like the fact that I can contribute to my family, I like that I have savings because of these things I make,” she says. The other women in her village who have been making such merchandise also feel the same way, adds Shabnam. These women make around Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 per month, and although it isn’t enough to run the entire household, as a supplementary income, it suffices comfortably for most of them.

There are some organisations that help these women by training them and showing them a way to earn. One such entity is Aham Bhumika, a Bhopal-based NGO. The co-founder of the NGO, Subrat Goswami, says they have helped to give these women employment avenues by trying to find a market for their skills. “We mostly work on tribal themes, especially Gond, because that’s the art of Madhya Pradesh. Unlike artists who take art to gallery halls, what these women do with their craftsmanship is to make Gond artworks a common fixture in people’s lives and their homes — on their bedroom pillows or living room cushions covers.” A quick browse through Aham Bhumika’s Instagram profile will allow you to see works of Sazia, Shakila, Shabnam and other artists, and buy them too.

Goswami says that the work has helped these women in several ways. He is especially happy that they have been able to empower some of these women. “We have had cases where women have walked out of terrible marriages, because they had financial independence, thanks to their jobs. It has empowered them to live lives on their own terms,” he says.

Almost 300 km to the south, a similar exercise is underway. Here the effort is to help the Korku tribe folk in Melghat, Amravati district of Maharashtra. Living in the midst of dense forests in and around a tiger reserve, the Korkus’ primary occupation is collecting forest products such as honey, herbs and fruits. Women begin their days as early as 4:30 am. However, the money they make from such activities is meagre, and over the years, the tribal population has migrated out of Melghat in search of better opportunities.

To stop this exodus of tribals, Avinash Hatwate, a local resident, has started an art initiative for Korku women called Dhatrom. The women come together to paint or sew their own traditional art forms, Warli and Gond, on modern bags and clothings. These handmade works are then sold so that they can make some extra money.

The women find this side hustle an incredibly creative outlet, says Hatwate. “They use ancient artforms that their ancestors practised. But what they paint is mostly dictated by what they see in their everyday lives, on their way to work or at home. After a hard day’s work, I think that is what propels them to sit down with their craftwork. They find creative freedom in such tasks which their day jobs of heavy labour doesn’t provide them,” he adds.

Hatwate aims to bring in 300 women from Melghat into the fold before expanding this initiative and taking it to other villages.

Through this movement, tribal women are not only reviving art, but also moving towards financial independence. This would help them take up leadership roles in their communities. So projects such as these play a crucial role in impacting communities. Perhaps that’s the reason why rural women are at the heart of most government art revival initiatives.

The Ministry of Culture, for instance, has art revival projects in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Odisha, Sikkim, Tripura, West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. These are all women-centric projects, and one of the primary aims of such projects is to bring families above the poverty line by empowering women in the households.

“For any community to develop, women are the first priority, because when you empower a man, you only empower an individual. However, when you empower a woman, you empower children, a family, and a community,” adds Hatwate.