Birds at Play

The first Padma Shri awardee from the Bhil artist community, Bhuri Bai started painting at the age of 10. A native of Pitol village in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh, she was discovered by Jagdish Swaminathan, artist and co-founder of Bharat Bhavan, who became her mentor and led her to start her artistic career. Bhuri Bai found her love for painting right in her childhood, she would find herself in awe of the beautiful figures and elements being painted on walls on festivals and marriages and even special rituals. Her curiosity and admiration of the art had a strong grip on her and led to inculcating a deep love for it. Married at the age of 14 to Jor Singh, she moved to Bhopal and started working as a waged labourer along with her husband to build the Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal. Here, her paintings on stones were discovered by Swaminathan, who encouraged her to start painting on paper. Her first set of paintings fetched Rs.50. Here on, started a journey which took her around the world where she shared about her tribe, her art and made her a global persona. Bhuri ji not only started her practice but also started training others in the art. Interestingly her first student was Jor Singh! She recalls that he was a quick learner since he had a good understanding of the themes and could relate to it. After she began working as an artist full time for the MP State Tribal Museum she developed her own style and a celebrated body of work. Used to making her own colours from flowers and leaves she also learnt how to use new mediums and began colouring with synthetic colours. Her works include her life in the village, her childhood, rituals of the community and more. Characterised by bold and vibrant colours, multicoloured dots and compositions comprising nature, humans and often both together with modern day cars, her work is truly one of a kind. In her work, aside from traditional compositions on nature, tribal rituals and Bhil deities one also sees her experiences around the world. She was the first from her community to paint on paper and canvas and continues to set precedents in her field, inspiring several artists, especially women from other tribal communities. Her works have been displayed in many exhibitions, galleries and museums not only in India but also internationally such as in Australia and the United States. Her painting ‘Story of the Jungle’ was auctioned at Sotheby’s New York in 2007. She has also illustrated for various publications such as Bhili Kathayein, Bhil Janjateetya Geet and Lok Akhyan in addition to being a regular contributor to Chaumasa magazine. Bhuri bai also illustrated a children’s book, A tree, by Klara Kottner-Benigni. She has also co-authored an autobiographical work, Dotted Lines, with Debjani Mukherjee. Bhuri Bai continues to light the way for others in her community to pursue art. It is our honour to have her as a member of the Rooftop Artists network and Indian art course programs. Her love for the art, her storytelling and the determination to take the humble artform to heights is truly inspiring.