A Tree Grows in a Painting

As part of the programming around MAP’s online exhibition, Bhuri Bai: My Life as an Artist, we are pleased to present a richly illustrated talk by Dr Annapurna Garimella that explores indigenous representations of the world around them.

Trees are enchanting and primordial. They take birth and rebirth and make song possible. They befriend us and share our existence. They sacrifice their lives so other living beings can live and thrive. Trees think and live. This has been the way that the Gonds and Pardhans of Central India have perceived trees. This talk seeks to articulate some questions that their art raises about the relationship of the human and the non-human, specifically through the stories and paintings which mediate Adivasis’ relationships with the non-human.