Breathtaking façade at India Art Fair features intricate Warli mural by Vayeda brothers
Titled ‘Forests of the Future’, the life size mural at NSIC Exhibition Grounds in Okhla is the first digital representation of traditional Warli painting which artist duo Mayur and Tushar have been practising for almost 12 years now.
The façade aims to celebrate the Warli community and ancestors with deep research into Warli traditions, mythological stories, and rituals. Ongoing exhibition features 86 exhibitors, including 72 galleries and 12 institutions.
According to Mayur, it is based and inspired by the nature surrounding the Warli community, especially in the Sahyadri ranges — where we also live.
From the outside, growing infrastructure looks good in the name of development. But where we live, we experience all that’s happening around our ecosystem, diversity, forest, community, and culture.
This ever-evolving ecosystem and what we need for the future are what’s been brought forward by the Warli façade.
People still see Warli as a decorative art but public spaces and platforms offer opportunities to celebrate centuries-old heritage at large scale.
Mayur and Tushar are trying to set milestones for the upcoming generations of the Warli community and archive all the stories that are not written anywhere.
With the Warli being recognised on such larger platforms, the Vayeda brothers shared that the art tradition is now finding the right direction which is very important for the young artists to give something back to the tribal community where they actually hail from.
Images by Chitral Khambhati
