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2009

Submitted By

Mrs. Radha Iyer

Dr. Patricia Gokhale

Ms. Ritica Bhardawaj

Mr. Rajdeep Singh

10/4/2009

Warli Painting – a means of earning a sustained livelihood for the Warli Tribal Community

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FAB INDIA Workshop

The Warli painting workshop, held in January 2009 in collaboration with FabIndia

(www.fabindia.com) was a rewarding experience. The child-artists of Nareshwadi Learning

Centre (www.nareshwadi.org) along with their art teacher congregated at FabIndia’s leading

store in Kala Ghoda, Colaba, Mumbai for a hands-on workshop. Can one imagine the elite

urban Mumbai shoppers learning something from these tribal children? Seems highly

improbable, however, this is exactly what happened and both, the trainers and the trainees

gained immensely.

The traditional Warli art form practiced in remote villages in Dahanu Taluka, Thane District,

Maharashtra, was the subject of the training workshop titled, “The nuances of Warli

painting”. This was organized by the student social cell of the K.J. Somaiya Institute of

Management Studies & Research, popularly known as SIMSR (www.somaiya.edu). The

trainers were inexperienced, had mixed emotions of excitement and nervousness, probably

due to the unexpected number of one hundred and twenty-five urbanites who had enrolled for

the workshop. Despite the language barriers and the challenge of never having done this

before, the child artists from Dahanu won the hearts of the participants at the workshop with

their competency in Warli painting, an art form is acclaimed both in India and overseas.

Warli painting gained popularity in the late 70’s, with the sheer tenacity of. Jivya Soma

Mashe, a renowned Warli artist, who put this art form on the world map. (See the FABINDIA

workshop image in Appendix)

The Girivanavasi Pragati Mandal (GVPM) and the Girivanavasi Educational Trust (GVET)

founded by Padmabhushan Karamshibhai Jethabhai Somaiya in Dahanu Taluka, provides

residential schooling facilities for Warli children with the opportunity to pick up vocational

skills alongside regular classroom learning. Deeply compassionate, Karamshibhai based his

life on the ideal "what you receive from society give back multifold", and envisioned an

empowered tribal community through education.

The Warlis

The Warli or Varli are an Indian Schedule Tribe. These indigenous people live in Thane,

Nasik and Dhule districts of Maharashtra, the Valsad District of Gujarat, the Dadra & Nagar

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Haveli and Daman & Diu union territories. Our study area is concentrated in the forests of the

Sahyadri Mountains in Dahanu taluka of Thane district. They have their own beliefs and

customs which have little in common with mainstream Hinduism. The Warlis speak an

unwritten language which is a combination of Sanskrit, Marathi and Gujarati words. The

Warlis live in hamlets of thatched mud-huts , which are constructed in a way that they

surround a central open space. They are primarily dependant on monsoon-fed agriculture and

migrate to nearby towns in search of work post monsoon. Historians say that the Warli

tradition can be traced to the Neolithic period between 2,500 BC and 3,000 BC.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warli)

Our focus area is the tribal belt of Dahanu Taluka comprising Warli, Katkari, Dodhi and

other marginalized communities , lacks educational opportunities. The tribal communities are

mostly marginal farmers and landless laborers and work in the agriculture or construction

sectors. The area is based on a one- crop economy as irrigation facilities are unavailable. Post

monsoons, entire families move to nearby industrial towns for work. Older children follow

their parents or stay back to look after younger siblings. Either way, children miss out on

schooling and nurturance in a safe environment. Some Non Profits like GVPM/GVET are

making efforts to improve their situation in a holistic manner. (Primary data of people in the

focus area is provided in the Appendix)

The Warli Art

Warli art is one of the most intriguing forms of Indian folk paintings. A traditional Warli

painting depicts a normal work day in the life of the Warli. Their rudimentary wall paintings

use a basic graphic vocabulary: a circle, a triangle and a square. The circle and triangle come

from their observation of nature; the circle represents the sun and the moon, the triangle is

derived from mountains and pointed trees. Only the square seems to be invention, indicating

a sacred enclosure or a piece of land. So, the central motive in each ritual painting is the

square, known as the "Chaukat" where Palaghata, the mother goddess dwells, symbolizing

fertility. Male gods are unusual among the Warli and are frequently related to spirits that

have taken a human shape. The central motif in these ritual paintings is surrounded by scenes

portraying hunting, fishing and farming, festivals and dances, trees and animals. Human and

animal bodies are represented by two triangles joined at the tip; the upper triangle depicts the

trunk and the lower triangle the pelvis. Their precarious equilibrium symbolizes the balance

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of the universe, and of the couple, and has the practical and amusing advantage of animating

the bodies. (See Warli Paintings in Appendix)

The ritual paintings are usually done inside the huts. Warli paintings are strangely unlike

other folk paintings of India, which consist of various primary colors in abundance. Instead

they are painted in white on brown or brick red mud base. The walls are made of a mixture of

leaves, earth and cow dung, making a red ochre background for the wall paintings. While the

white pigment is a mixture of rice paste and water with gum as a binding. They use a bamboo

stick chewed at the end to make it as supple as a paintbrush. The tribal art, which is realistic,

is traditionally done to celebrate weddings or harvests and is a stylized depiction of the life

and activities of the tribe. The lack of regular artistic activity explains the very crude style of

their paintings, which were the preserve of the womenfolk until the late 1970s. But in the

1970s this ritual art took a radical turn, when Jivya Soma Mashe started to paint to showcase

this art form to the world. Sadly, there are few practicing women Warli artists today.

Commercialization has made the art form a male prerogative.

(http://www.somaiyasocialcell.com/ssc_Warli.html & http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Warli)

GVPM and GVET

GVPM and GVET are registered non-profit organizations that provide an integrated rural

development model of education, health, agricultural development and economic self-

reliance for the tribal community in the Dundhalwadi area (about 120 km. from Mumbai) of

Dahanu Taluka, Thane District in Maharashtra. The campus, located in Village Pardhi of

Dundhalwadi Groupgram Panchayat, is known as the Nareshwadi Learning Centre (NLC)

and comprises the school, residences and vocational training centre.

Nareshwadi Learning Centre (NLC)

The Nareshwadi campus is surrounded by paddy fields and an orchard of fruit and coconut

trees, contributing to an atmosphere of spontaneous creativity and learning. NLC believes

that the opportunities and outcomes in which the students are engaged should be shared with

the community, and the community's rich culture and heritage should be ingrained in the

children's development at school. This has been the driving force to engage the children in

learning Warli art from a young age, as most of them are from the Warli community. The

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tribe is known for its distinct Warli painting which has a worldwide presence. Many famous

Warli artists have been felicitated in India and abroad. However, the art form is not known to

the younger generation. Nareshwadi has started an Arts & Crafts Centre which is headed by a

local lady Warli artist, one of the few practicing women artists. She trains the children in the

nuances of the art form as well as the richness of their culture.

Providing training for income-generating livelihood is one of the principles of GVET, hence

vocational activities were introduced for students from class 7. Along with skill training,

some of the key areas addressed were developing a marketing channel for art and craft

products, developing training programs for enhancement of other vocational skills and

educating students in understanding the ethical market based economic system.

SIFE Somaiya – Social Cell of SIMSR

The initiative by the Social Cell of SIMSR is to play the role of a catalyst. It has worked to

bring the skills of the Warli painters to the outside world. SIFE Somaiya believes that “Big

change originates from a small initiative”. With this philosophy the enthusiastic and young

team of Somaiya students is committed to bring in the “Big Change”. The mission of “Project

Warli” is to provide the tribal community and youth of Nareshwadi the platform they need to

develop their Warli art for the world to see.

Contribution of Jivya Soma Mashe in making the art popular worldwide

Jivya Soma Mashe pioneered the traditional Warli art beyond the walls of his hut to the world

canvas. Mashe's images are based on simple forms keeping intact the simplicity of the Warli

art form. His talent was noticed, first nationally and was rewarded by Nehru and Indira

Gandhi. International recognition came from Magicians de la Terre and Centre Pompidou

which prompted many young Warli men to follow suit. They started to paint regularly for

commercial purposes and so developed skills that won admiration and wealth.

Social Cell’s Initiative to use Warli Art for poverty reduction

Poverty is a trap which does not let those entwined in its destructive web, escape. Lack of

capital – human, physical and natural, leads to a vicious cycle that perpetuates poverty. The

poor themselves cannot contribute to capital formation as that needs savings. For the poor,

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saving is a luxury they can ill afford with their meager earnings. It is observed that the

families around Dundhalwadi tend to save by sacrificing a meal or a child’s education or

health care and use these funds to have a social get together during a marriage in the family,

which they hold in higher priority. Fig.no.1 illustrates the case of a family facing extreme

poverty, it shows how the poverty trap sucks the poor into an endless cycle of negative

growth due to lack of capital formation.

Fig No.1 The poverty trap

The only source of income these tribal people have is from agriculture and even that is

seasonal. There are also no irrigation facilities and they are totally dependent on the

monsoons. As a result they are able to grow only one crop per year which leads to migration

to the cities in search of work. Their meager savings are spent on drinking a local brew called

Tadi. To exacerbate their condition, moneylenders, who are their only source of borrowing,

charge high interest rates close to 25% per month. The Warlis remain impoverished despite

the rich skills they possess and continue to be in the trap of poverty.

The target population observed has low incomes. This small income needs to be allocated for

daily living requisites. Thus it cannot be expected to run a sustainable business by targeting

this segment of society without first being able to help them address their problem of income

generation and then helping them out with prioritizing consumption.

Impoverished

Household

Decline

In Capital

Per

PersonPe

rson

Negative

Economic

Growth

Population

Growth and

Depreciation

ZERO

Public

Investment

Budget

Basic Needs

ZERO

Household

Savings

ZERO

Tax

Payments

(Negative)

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Fig No.2 is adapted from Sachs’ model of the role of Outside Development Assistance, to

show how development institutions can support breaking the poverty trap.

Fig No.2 The Role of Private Enterprise in breaking the Poverty Trap

(http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0198-360711/Poverty-traps-and-the-robust.html)

(www.springerlink.com/index/6795R3231T2T000W.pdf)

As shown above, we believe that the poor should be involved in a production based

developmental model, reminiscent of the Lijjat papad and Amul models, which allows

participating members to increase their income due to better returns on their investment of

capital, time and effort.

The Warli tribal community does not seem to realize that they have a treasure in their art

form which can help them to come out of this never ending poverty trap. They need to

organize the practice of this art form through more professional outlets which will fulfill a

small percentage of the demand of traditional art form in the market. A normal Warli painting

on an average size will fetch close to Rs 300. So if a painter is able to make even two

paintings per day and sell it at an appropriate price, he/she can earn close to Rs 600 per day

which is more than the wages earned as a migrant laborer. But this is not as simple as it

seems. Many challenges have to be faced and dealt with.

Impoverished

Household

Capital

Per

Person

Economic

Growth

Population

Growth and

Depreciation

Public

Budget

Basic Needs

Household

Savings

Savings

Training (Negative)

Private

Enterprise

Microfinance/

Production

Tax

Public

Investment

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Challenges

Some non-profits agencies like GVPM/GVET and volunteers from SIFE Somaiya endeavor

to work in collaboration to build the capacity of the villagers, develop strategies for creating

and implementing a complete value chain and to design a “lift and shift” model. But to

achieve this, various problems and challenges need to be addressed.

Unawareness

The Warli artists are neither aware of the worldwide demand for their painting, nor of the

price it commands. Taking advantage of this ignorance, there are various intermediaries,

between the painters and customers, who commission these paintings for meager amounts

and sell them at exorbitant rates. Unfortunately, some of their own community’s men with

outside contacts act as agents.

Inferiority Complex

There is also the problem of inferiority and unassertiveness while dealing with any person

from the city. It disables them to interact, negotiate and get the right value for their products.

Very Low Literacy Rate

The literacy rate is very low and they lack basic accounting abilities which are a must to carry

out the trading process not only in painting but also for the agricultural products they usually

grow and sell.

No Knowledge about Market Economics

To earn a sustainable livelihood from Warli art they should have knowledge of market

dynamics, market trends, information on pricing, information on suppliers, distributors and

the competition they have to face from other art forms. They also have to compete with the

print form of Warli art which is commercially available now days.

Decreasing Popularity of the Warli Art among the Warli tribe

More alarming is the fact that fewer and fewer Warlis are taking to painting endangering the

continuity of this ancient art form due to lack of continuous demand for Warli paintings, less

marketing penetration and lack of government’s support.

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Low Inventory

These artistes are also not adaptable to market demand. There are some painters who are

interested in carrying out this art as a means of livelihood but they face the problem of low

inventory. They are not able to forecast the demand for their paintings and do not feel the

need to maintain a safety stock.

Some approaches to address the situation:

As a pilot, GVPM/GVET with the support of the SIFE Somaiya attempted to bring about a

change in the artists’ lives by providing them some work. This has led to some families, apart

from agriculture, also taking to Warli painting as a means to supplement their income.

Initially Warli art was only restricted to wall paintings with a limited demand. However, with

more innovative design possibilities, Warli paintings are being extended to various products

like bed sheets, cloth bags, hand bags, gift wrapping papers, flower vases, pen stands, mobile

stands , greeting cards , cushion covers , pillow covers , curtains, table mats , table cloths ,

hot plates, tea coasters, notepads and bookmarks which has helped in increasing both

awareness and demand (List of Price Range of the products is given in Appendix) . With this

market expansion, they have a stream of work to do to fulfill the market’s demand.

SIMSR students have played a big role in expanding the demand for Warli paintings as gifts

and mementoes, which has created a regular source of business for them. During festive

seasons like Diwali, New Year etc, kiosks are put up at many corporate offices. This helps

bring in an additional business for the artists. The artists are encouraged to participate in these

kiosks and understand the art of selling, as well as the expectations of their customer base.

Some large lifestyle stores (such as Ethnicity), R mall - Mulund have provided space in their

shops or stalls for exhibitions and sale of these Warli products which has given a tremendous

impetus. Warli artists are also introduced to the dealers enabling them to independently

secure input customer orders. (See the Media Coverage section in Appendix)

The positive response of the participants at the FabIndia Workshop was an indication of the

possibility of a niche high value market segment that appreciates tribal art. Other initiatives

taken in this direction include tie up with an NGO known as Shanti Hastakala, which has

helped these painters to get regular painting orders.

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With the growing demand of Warli products, Nareshwadi Learning Centre has introduced

Warli painting as a vocational skill which can become a sustainable source of livelihood

along with the small scale agriculture they practice (Refer to Figure Sustainability of Warli

Project in the Appendix). Besides training in painting, a Financial literacy program is also

conducted which teaches the tribal artists various aspects of saving, budgeting, banking and

microfinance (Refer to figure Financial Literacy).

Distribution

The village of Dahanu is well connected by road with links to NH 8. Currently, the supply

chain process is by two methods:

Collection of the raw material like special paints and delivery of the final products from

the artists is done by a daily milk van delivery system (of Suruchi – NGO) which operates

between Dahanu & Vidyavihar area a central suburb of Mumbai, hence no cost is

involved in this process.

Delivery of the raw material like bed sheets, paper, plain bags is done by the SIMSR

social cell students on their monthly visits to the community

Procurement of some of the raw material is done in the community at Dahanu. These

include products like wooden tea coasters and pen stands where villagers make it

themselves thereby involving the community.

Source of Funds

As mentioned above, for earning a sustainable livelihood for the tribal people, we have to

adopt a “lift and shift” strategy and for initial upliftment, some capital is needed. SIFE

Somaiya receives annual grants for their various ongoing projects related to livelihood in

which Warli is one of the most special projects. These funds include KPMG Business Ethics

Grant, HSBC grant and Syntel Seed Grant. A part of these funds has been utilized in the

Warli project while the rest is being utilized in the other livelihood projects.

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Future plan of action:

The target is to increase the number of painters who gets professionally engaged in the Warli

paintings. With growing awareness more and more tribal people are willing to go for this

source of income, so there is an increased need for big orders on a continuous basis.

The SIFE Somaiya students are also keen to introduce the Geographical Indication (GI)

which will help the art gain more popularity as well as protect it from plagiarists. Having the

GI mark will convey an assurance of quality and distinctiveness which is essentially

attributable to the fact of its origin in the defined geographical locality, region or country

where the art form originates and is traditionally practiced. It will provide legal protection to

the art and artists and will help in promoting the economic prosperity of these artists

belonging to the GI territory. (www.geographicindications.com)

The SIFE Somaiya is also working on expanding the market for corporate gifts where Warli

paintings on notepads, pen stands, greeting cards, bookmarks, diaries which the companies

give to their clients and customers. This will benefit the Warli painters as they will be getting

bulk orders. Just like any other business, innovation and new ideas are required to ensure that

there is a demand for this art. Warli calendars for 2010 are in the pipeline and corporate

offices with SIMSR alumni are expected to support this. It is also tying with Art Galleries

like Nehru Centre Art Gallery and Jehangir Art Gallery for the exhibition and sale of Warli

Paintings.

In the future, link up with government agencies like the Central Cottage Industries Emporium

and Maharashtra State Small Industries Development Corporation sales outlets will be made

for greater market reach through institutional bodies which the artists themselves could

approach without an intermediary. Some NGO tie ups are also high in the agenda as they can

help in getting sizeable product contracts and to make the venture more sustainable for the

artists (Shanti Hastakala is one such NGO). It would be advantageous to also link up with

retail store chains like Big Bazaar, Future retail group etc. to bring this art to middle class

consumers and expand the market base. For the overseas market, organizations like

Tradecraft, whose mission is to fight poverty through fair trade, would be a good source to

contact.

In order to better utilize resources and optimize logistics, the formation of self help groups

(SHG) is envisaged where all the members practice Warli art. The SHGs can also obtain

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institutional microfinance which will cut out the dependence on the local money lender. Each

member of the group is accountable to return the loan in regular installments. Studies have

shown that the default rate in such groups is very less as compared to normal personal loans.

Hence, SHG will be a good format for promoting and sustaining Warli art as a viable

livelihood.

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Appendix:

Summary of the focus group( Primary Data)

– Villages – Bordii, Dhundalwadii, Sarvand, Chinchale, Ambivale Turf Bahare

– Overtly dependent on Monsoon

(Only 1 crop per year due to lack of irrigation facilities)

– Leads to migration in search of job

– Migration during rest of the year to Vapi, Vasai as wage labourers in brick

kilns and sand collection

– Savings are spent on drinking local intoxicating drink – Tadi

Population Characteristic:

– 7100 people

– Over 90% are Scheduled Tribe (Tribe Classification: Varli)

– Literacy Rate around 35%

– Major occupation: Cultivation

– Average Land Holding: 2-3 acres

– Average MHI: Rs. 3000/-

– Savings: Minimal

– Large Borrowings: Moneylenders , Interest Rate: 25% per month

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Dahanu Map (http://maps.google.co.in)

Product Range (Courtesy SIFE Somaiya)

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Products with their prices: (Courtesy SIFE Somaiya)

Product Price Range

Bed Sheets (Single and Double) 200 and 350

Cloth Bags 80 – 250

Hand Bags 50-250

Flower Vase 100

Pen Stand 75

Mobile Stand 75

Greeting Cards 25 – 40

Tea Coasters 250 – 275

Paintings (Paper and Cloth) 250 – 4000

Key chains 40-80

Table Mats (6 pieces) 120-180

Sustainability of Warli Project (Courtesy SIFE Somaiya)

In the above figure, SIFE somaiya is acting as intermediary between Nareshwadi Learning

Centre (NLC) and Warli Artists in rural area (Producers) and various NGOs and Ethnic

lifestyle stores in urban areas (Distributors and Retailers) to make the Warli Project

Sustainable

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Financial Literacy (Courtesy SIFE Somaiya)

In the above figure, left side depicts the modules which have already been conducted by SIFE

Somaiya for Warli Artists and right part depicts modules which are planned for future as a

part of Financial Literacy drive

FAB INDIA Workshop (Courtesy SIFE Somaiya)

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Media Coverage

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Warli Paintings (Courtesy SIFE Somaiya)

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