Inspired from 16^th century Ragamala paintings that combined music, poetry and miniature painting to express the beauty and uniqueness of the Raga, I am keen on reviving that art form and finding its relevance to contemporary art practice.

Necessary Extravagance @ Lim Hak Tai Gallery

The art of mehndi (or mehandi) has been a long-standing tradition stemming from many ancient cultures dating back as far as about 5,000 years, but is most known today for its history in India.

This workshop is planned for Arts Education programs (NAC approved). Students get to create their own designs first on paper and then if they like, on their hands. We have now improved this program with a very interesting video presentation showing the traditional method and the modern method of this making henna and the application. This was well received by Manjusri Secondary School students last year.

“The program was very well planned and executed. The students enjoyed the video presentation and the hands on session” - Ms Elaine Poh,  Manjusri Secondary School.

“The instructors are well trained and experienced. They could engage the students well into learning this art form. Students enjoyed the hands on experience. ” - Ms Seetoh J L,  ITE Clementi.

These are paintings done by people of the Warli tribe, an ancient east Indian tribe. Art does not need to be complex to be appreciated, it needs to reflect life. Unlike most other ancient Indian painting traditions that use vibrant colors and depict mythological stories in fine detail, Warli paintings express everyday life using extremely basic object forms and just one color – white – on an austere mud base.

I conducted a workshop in December 2006, as  part of Dance India Taste India carnival of Temple of Fine Arts, Singapore. The response was good and the students enjoyed learning this traditional folk art form.

Singapore education minister T Shanmugarathnam who officially inaugurated this carnival, appreciated the work done to expose the Singapore public to such unique art forms.

Feedback from students who attended the workshop:

“Was very interesting and engaging. Looking forward for more of such workshops.”

“An excellent workshop conducted by Temple of Fine arts. Very apt to have had during Dance India & Taste India carnival. The instructor was very professional in conducting this workshop.”

“Very good workshop which demonstrates in a structured and simple mannerthe beauty of tribal folk art. Very interesting.” – Ms Sarita Sriram, Director – Engage Consumer Interfaces, Singapore.

Bandhni is the traditional Indian method of tying and dyeing fabrics. ‘Bandhan’ in Hindi means to tie or bind. Traditionally, natural dyes were used and so, the range of colors used were limited. Today, chemical dyes are also used which results in more varieties of colors.

This is a NAC approved Arts Education program that is conducted in Singapore schools. Through this program, students will be able to understand and appreciate a craft that is of Indian origin. They will learn to make dot patterns (Bandhini) and stripe patterns (Laharia) on a cloth.

“The Instructors willingly modified this program to suit our requirements and the students were satisfied with their art works and they were doing their work seriously. The instructors were able to engage the students in their learning.”- Mrs Vijayan, Montfort Junior School  

“The arts group were proactive in their presentation and engaged younger kids very well. .”- Ms Jerine, Teck Ghee Primary School

This is also a NAC approved Arts Education program that is conducted in Singapore schools. Through this program, students will be able to understand and appreciate a craft that is of Indian origin. Students get to create their own designs (on cloth) and take home a block printing piece. Students will be shown how one can decorate fabric using the traditonal block printing technique.

“Instructor was responsive to our needs and adjusted workshop acccordingly. Students enjoyed their hands on session and it was a very useful arts education program. It was very interesting to see students of different races getting excited to learn this Indian art of blockprinting.” – Mrs Kong Chuen Pei, Teacher-in-charge, Bishan Park Secondary School 

“The program was very well planned and executed. The students enjoyed the video presentation and the hands on session” - Ms Elaine Poh,  Manjusri Secondary School

“The arts group was able to achieve their objective of educating the kids with a new Indian art form. A very well managed workshop and kids enjoyed it. ” - Ms Ivy Chan,  Pandan Primary School

“Thankyou for the workshop. Was very informative and our students were happy with their works. ” - Ms Goh Swee Ching,  Holy Innocent Primary School

I chose to use Warli style of painting as I was drawn to the simplified representation of Folk imagination, beliefs and customs which are spontaneously expressed. Warli Paintings are characterized by the minimalistic style employed to say the profoundest things. The use of color is restricted to a stark white against earthen backgrounds. Geometric designs dominate most paintings; dots and crooked lines are the units of these compositions. The appeal of these unicolor compositions lies in their lack of pretentiousness in conveying the profound.  

This mural is divided into two parts.

Sheer joy depicts the joy of living life to its fullest. Life has its own primal motion and natural rhythm. In this section, the people in the spiral formation represent all of us at the Temple of Fine Arts as we move together around the lamp in the center which represents the light of Temple of Fine Arts, our guru, founder and guide His holiness Swami Shantanand Saraswathi with his harmony and rhythm that spreads and charms the complete space, he is the creator and inspiration of life around TFA. Transcending the barriers of time and space this warli painting portrays eternal life at Temple of Fine Arts in its universal form.

The other part of the painting represents the daily activity of Temple of Fine Arts.

Do post me your feedback of what you think about my work.

Subhashini

subash3@yahoo.com