Bhil Course

Bhuri Bai

Bhuri Bai ji made her first wall paintings at the age of ten in her village in the district of Jahuba, which lies on the border between Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. After moving to Bhopal to find work she met Jagdish Swaminathan, the great figure of modern Indian art, theoretician, and co-founder of the Bharat Bhavan, the only Indian museum that places rural and urban art on equal standing.

Bhuri Bai ji is one of the very first women in her tribe to paint on paper and canvas. Bhuri Bai now works as an artist at the Adivasi Lok Kala Academy in Bhopal.

Selected Exhibition, Workshops, and Collections

1. Given Power: From Tradition to Contemporary, Blueprint21 + Exhibit320, Delhi, 2017
2. Vernacular, in the Contemporary, Devi Art Foundation, Bangalore, 2010-2011
3. Other Masters of India, Muse du Quai Branly, Paris, 2010
4. Now that the Trees Have Spoken, Pundole Gallery, Mumbai, 2009
5. Freedom, Centre for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata, 2008

Awards

1. Shikhar Samman, Government of Madhya Pradesh, 1986
2. Ahalya Samman, 1998
3. Rani Durgavati Award, 2009
4. Padma Shri Award, 2021