Take an immersive glance at Mewar’s Troubadours – Gauri Dancers
A series of rejoicing hand painted photographs of Mewar’s famous Gauri Dancers taken by American artist-photographer Waswo X Waswo have been put to public display at the ongoing exhibition in Museo Camera Centre for Photographic Arts in Gurugram.
The predominantly tribal belt of Southern Rajasthan sharing the borders with Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, it has a glorious tradition of oral literature and performing arts, by way of dance and drama.
It was back in 2010 when photographer and writer Waswo X. Waswo chanced upon an unusual sight, while at a barbershop in Varda, a village in Rajasthan out on the street when there was a boy wearing bangles, donning a cowboy was frantically prancing around with the glitter on his face.
Struck by the spectacle, he shifted his studio to Varda near Udaipur. Ever since then he has been capturing the photographs of the rural communities of native Mewari performing art named Gauri or Gavri.
These photos of performing local Mewari legends and religious retellings from epics are then hand coloured by Rajesh Soni, a third-generation Rajasthani photo hand colourist.
According to gallerist Bhavna Kakar, ” Interestingly, eight farmers from a village in Rajasthan have set up a traditional Gauri elephant in the gallery! “It is made of charpoys, baskets and bangles, and is on display as a part of the show.”
