Bhuri Bai is an Indian Bhil artist. She was born in Pitol village, situated on the border of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Pitol is a village of Jhabua district in

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

. Bhuri Bai belongs to the community of

Bhils Bhil or Bheel is an ethnic group in western India. They speak the Bhil languages, a subgroup of the Western Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages. As of 2013, Bhils were the largest tribal group in India. Bhils are listed as tribal people of the s ...

, the largest tribal group of India. She has won many awards including the highest state honour accorded to artists by the Madhya Pradesh government, the Shikhar Samman. She was awarded India's fourth highest civilian award the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

in 2021.

Early life

Like her contemporary

Jangarh Singh Shyam Jangarh Singh Shyam (1962–2001) was a pioneering contemporary Indian artist credited with being the creator of a new school of Indian art called ''Jangarh Kalam''. His work has been exhibited widely the world over including Bhopal, Delhi, Tokyo ...

, Bhuri Bai was encouraged by J Swaminathan of Bhopal's

Bharat Bhavan Bharat Bhavan is an autonomous multi-arts complex and museum in Bhopal, India, established and funded by the Government of Madhya Pradesh.The architect of the Bharat Bhavan is Charles Correa. Opened in 1982, facing the Upper Lake, Bhopal, it hous ...

to start using acrylic colours and paper to make paintings. Before that, she, like other members of her community, would create art on the walls of her home. Bhuri was proficient in the making of Pithora paintings.

“In the village, we had to work so hard to extract colour from plants and clay. And here I was given so many shades of colour and a ready made brush!”

Besides painting, Bhuri Bai is also adept at the skill of hut-making, which she learnt from her mother Jhabbu Bai. She contributed to the construction of the Bhil hut in the

Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS) or National Museum of Humankind or Museum of Man is an anthropology museum located in Bhopal, India, to present an integrated story of the evolution of man and culture with special reference ...

or Museum of Man in Bhopal, where she resides. In fact, when Bhuri Bai first arrived in Bhopal, she was engaged as a construction labourer at Bharat Bhavan—a job that earned her Rs 6 per day. It was here that she first met Jagdish Swaminathan, who spotted her talent and encouraged her to paint. Bhuri bai started her work alongside her community artist

Lado Bai Lado Bai is a tribal artist from the Bhil people, Bhil tribe of Madhya Pradesh. Her work has been showcased in various exhibitions in India, France and the UK. She lives and works in the Adivasi Lok Kala Academy, Bhopal. Early life and career ...

Style and themes

Bhil art is considered by some to be the oldest of India's tribal art forms. It bears similarity to the aboriginal art of Australia, especially in its use of multi-coloured dots as in-filling. Bhuri Bai was the first artist of her community to start painting on paper. Her typically colourful canvases usually depict mythological themes, bucolic scenes and man-animal interactions, although later works have incorporated modern elements like airplanes and cellphones.

Exhibitions

* 2017 Satrangi : Bheel Art, Ojas Art, Delhi * 2017 “Given Power: From Tradition to Contemporary”, Blueprint21 + Exhibit320, Delhi * 2010-2011 “Vernacular, in the Contemporary”, Devi Art Foundation, Bangalore * 2010 “Other Masters of India”, Musée du Quai Branly, Paris * 2009 “Now that the Trees Have Spoken”, Pundole Gallery, Mumbai * 2008 “Freedom”, Centre for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata

Awards and honours

* Shikhar Samman, Government of Madhya Pradesh, 1986 * Ahalya Samman, 1998 * Rani Durgavati Award, 2009 *Padma Shri Award, 2021

References

{{authority control 20th-century Indian painters People from Jhabua district Year of birth missing (living people) Bhil people Living people 20th-century Indian women Indian women painters Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts