Warli Painting

The Warli-style painting of the Dangs is one of the most distinctive and beautiful of India’s tribal arts — a spare, elegant folk art that the Adivasi communities of these forested hills share with the neighbouring Warli of Maharashtra. Traditionally painted in white (made from rice paste) on the earthen-red or ochre walls of homes, Warli-style art uses the simplest of forms — circles (the sun and moon), triangles (mountains and trees), and stick-like human and animal figures — composed into lively scenes of daily and ritual life: farming, hunting, dancing, weddings, and the great spiral or circular “tarpa dance” of figures moving around musicians. There is no perspective or grandeur, only a graphic, rhythmic beauty and a deep connection to nature and community. Made especially at weddings, harvests and festivals, these paintings are both decoration and a form of storytelling and ritual. The art has gained wide recognition while remaining rooted in the tribal life of the Dangs. For the visitor, Warli-style art offers a window into the worldview of the Dangi tribes — best appreciated in the villages or through the work of local artists. (The Warli-style tribal wall-art of the Dangs; white figures on earthen walls; a living folk tradition.)