A unique painting exhibition in the tribal heartland of Odisha
These weren't people who were already well-known in the art world and made a career out of their artistic pursuits.
It was a novel kind of painting exhibition, with a group of really unconventional painters. These weren’t people who were already well-known in the art world and made a career out of their artistic pursuits. Rather, they were mostly homemakers and farmers, people whose creative abilities had mostly stayed buried inside their villages.
The magic started to happen when the Odisha Lalit Kala Academy (OLKA) set out on a nearly 400-kilometer trek from the busy capital city of Bhubaneswar to the sleepy, unassuming town of Rejingtal in the Rayagada district. The Saura community’s traditional mural painting, Idital, was to be painted on homes by Saura tribe members at the academy’s request. Not less than astounding was the outcome.
ceremonial intent
The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI) states that red oxide is the background and rice powder is used to create ideal paintings.
Idital comes in sixty-two varieties, each designated for a certain ceremony or occasion. The community creates these paintings as a way to honor and express appreciation to their gods and ancestors as well as for the well of their villages.
The village agriculture, hunting, harvesting, hills and mountains, tribal life-style, marriage and dancing, worship of their mud deities, and various birds, animals, and insects are all shown in these Saura paintings.
“In the world of art, ideal paintings are highly valued. In cities, some Iditals embellish living rooms. We were interested in seeing how the Iditals’ original inventors painted them in their own backyard. That’s how the concept for a live show in Rejingtal emerged,” remarked OLKA President and renowned sand artist Padma Shri Sudarshan Pattnaik to a media.
Despite the fact that OLKA compensated each artist Rs. 10,000 for the murals, these painters—whose everyday occupations are centered around farming and raising a family—seized the chance to display their artistic abilities to the public.
