Expressing Feelings, Emotions, and Ideas Through Warli Art

While her class focuses on the study of an Indian language, Kusumji also educates us about Indian culture and society. Each semester, there are always a few activities we do that surprise me in the best way. In one such class, we learned about the indigenous Warli tribe and their art. Warli folk art is recognized for its simple shapes and detailed patterns. It is an art style that felt accessible, even for people without strong artistic talents. 

For this class, we began by making a story together in Hindi, where each person gave a sentence that told the next part of the story. The story had some protagonists from our Hindi lessons take a trip through cities in North India. It was a dramatic love story with betrayal and snakes… But it had a happy ending. Kusumji then had us all draw scenes from our story in the Warli art style. She showed us examples of how different genders and ages of people are drawn in the style. The examples also included depictions of drums, trees, oceans, homes, and scenes from daily life. It was nice to see how, although it’s quite simple, there’s a lot of versatility in Warli art. 

I enjoyed having a creative outlet in class and found myself laughing at the silly situation I had drawn (two friends lamenting as the bride runs away from her impromptu Taj Mahal wedding). We saw that there was plenty of flexibility to express different emotions and situations through the art. Some students also drew backgrounds and borders with intricate patterns in their pictures, infusing more elements of the Warli art style into their creations. 

This event was supported and funded by Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.