Folk music can sway people towards indigenous arts
Folk music has a natural way of drumming up the curiosity of people for indigenous arts. Recent exhibition in Aadya Kala, The Telangana Ethnic Arts Exhibition showcases a vast collection indigenous musical instruments along with artefacts from the private collection of Professor Thirumala Rao.
With more than two thousand artefacts from the collections of retired professor Jayadhir Thirumala Rao, the exhibition showcases a vast array of musical instruments of tribes such as the Koyas, Gonds and Chenchus spread across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Roa also works in association with artists, researchers and writers to bring to light the expressions of lesser-known tribes and folk communities.
As music and festive dances play a significant part in tribal life, these instruments are handmade out of various naturally sourced materials for instance the wind, percussion and string, have been made from wood, brass, bamboo, gourd as well as the hides and horns of animals.
Kikri is one exquisite Gond instrument played with a bow called Khon, its making involves a laborious process of drilling a hole in a tree’s stem and covering it with goat skin to make a square shaped resonator.Once a piece of bamboo is fitted in it, wooden sticks are wedged in the three holes which are called pootilu. It creates a mellifluous sound.
Apart music instrument the artefacts such exhibition displayed, Aadi Chitram linked with ‘pats’, colorful and intricate scrolls done by the Nakashi painters and Aadi Aksharam which showcased rare literary materials such as stone inscriptions, paper scrolls, palm leaf manuscripts, old books and copper plates.
In the jewellery section, the Tribal Metal Artwork and ornaments with alluring designs of chokers, and kalyana manjirams and ancient motifs could not cease to appeal to the urban lasses.
The palpability of folk culture and melodies arising from their close connection with nature will continue to draw the attention of people.
