Pardhan Gond Paintings

This wonderful style of paintings is the living expressions of the people of the Pardhan Gond tribal communities of India, producing artwork that is deeply linked to their daily lives. The colours and textures show the natural beauty concepts of Pardhans, traditional shapes and symbols. Like other Gonds, the Pardhans’ traditional visual arts included decorating their homes with auspicious designs and basic imagery created in low-relief clay sculpture or natural pigments such as charcoal and limestone. Venkat Raman Singh Shyam and Rajendra Kumar Shyam are two artists from the Pardhan Gond tribe in India. Both are accomplished artists, having learnt their techniques as apprentices to their uncle, the world renown Pardhan Gond artist, Jangarh Singh Shyam.

The Adivasi Arts Trust has brought the two indigenous Indian artists over to England for a three week visit. They attended the launch of their exhibition of Pardhan Gond Paintings at New Art Exchange. During their visit, they took the opportunity to meet up with British artists working in the Midlands and they joined several short animation workshops with multi-cultural school children, introducing them to Gond art. It has been an enriching experience for the two artists. For Venkat, it is his third visit to England, but for his younger brother Rajendra, it is the very first time he has ever been abroad.