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Design Resource
Documentation of Warli Art
Traditional Folk Art
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History
Warli art resembles to prehistoric cave paintings, according to book on Warli ‘Painted World of the Warli’ by Yashodhara Dalmia, roots of Warli can be found back to 2500 to 3000 BCE. Its visual resemblance to the cave paintings points to its prehistoric origin. Warli art is form of such preserved and practiced art by tribal community as it becomes the part of their traditions and hence this art form propagated from one generation to next generation. In late 1970s an artist Jivya Soma Mashe started practicing Warli art on everyday basis and not only as part of rituals. His exceptional talent and work in Warli soon got national and international recognition. He received the Padma Shri award for his contribution towards Warli painting. He introduced Warli to the world as an art form and inspired many tribal youth to practice Warli as commercial art. Now tribal youth identified potential of their traditional art and started using its benefit for the development of their community. Even formal government approved courses and training of Warli is now available in this area to empower youth and create new Warli artists.
