International Folkart market Santa Fe , New Mexico, U.S.A

July 2012

The Santa Fe International Folk Art Market is a non-profit organization that provides opportunities for folk artists to succeed in the global marketplace. It is a results-oriented entrepreneurial effort dedicated to fostering economic and cultural sustainability for artists and artisans from all over the world  The next market weekend will be held from July 13th to15th 2012.

Now the largest international folk art market in the world, the organization presents an annual international festival highlighting some of the world’s finest folk art, multicultural entertainment, ethnic foods, and educational activities... for children and families. During the Market, visitors observe artists’ demonstrations at the booths and have many opportunities for interaction and cultural exchange, deepening their appreciation of the cultures of our world.

The Market puts producers, who are often marginalized and from rural areas in developing nations, into direct contact with new international customers who appreciate and value their traditions.

Meet  Rajendra Shyam: Eminent Gond Artist, and a participant at the upcoming The Santa Fe International Folk Art Market on 13th, 14th and 15th July 2012.

http://www.folkartmarket.org/artists/rajendra-kumar-shyam/

Rajendra Shyam, depicts the Gondi tales in great detail on his canvases. He favours earthy colours, but is equally at home experimenting and expressing in all the vibrant shades the palette has to offer. He has adopted 'banda', or the tpattern created by twisting two bits of fibre rope used to bind sheaves of grain, as his signature infill motif to provide texture to his forms.

Rajendra  has had some International exhibitions as well....He exhibited his work at Nottingham’s  New Art Exchange Gallery, London in 2009. In the same year, he and another Gond artist Venkant Shyam were invited to collaborate on a project in London and asked to paint a 70kg fiberglass elephant, 'Udata Hathi' or 'The Flying Elephant' as a part of the Elephant Parade 'Mela'. The following year, Rajendra was in London again to exhibit his depictions of the tales of the primary Gond deity, 'Bada Dev' at the Horniman Art Gallery in London.
Rajendra is Jangarh Shyams nephew. At 15, he had to drop out of high school when his older brother died, and his impoverished family turned to him to provide for them. Drifting from one menial job to another, he eventually ended up at Bhopal's Bharat Bhavan. It was here, inspired by his uncle's success, that he took his doodling and drawing to a different level. His work was spotted by one of the staffers there, and after much encouragement, he finally decided to paint full time....

Raju, as he is affectionately known as, was selected by the Markets' Independent Artist Selection Committee, from a list of 367 applicants from 70 countries. Like all other selected artists, Raju too demonstrates an authentic connection to a vibrant folk art tradition within his community, a pre-requisite to have a presence at this prestigious art fair. The committee has taken into consideration the excellent standards of his work and the very promising potential it holds as 'Marketable Art'

Here are a few select works of Rajendra Shyam.

http://indiantribalzone.blogspot.in/search?updated-min=2011-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2012-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=4

July 2013

Bhuri bai the well known Bhil tribal artist was selected and invited to the Market in 2013.

About Bhuribai

Bhuri Bai of Pitol was the first Bhil artist to use paper and canvas for her painting. She had come to Bhopal as a construction worker, J Swaminathan, the then Director of Bharat Bhawan asked her to paint on a paper, Bhuri Bai began her journey as a contemporary Bhil artist and developed her own style. Bhuri Bai painted her family’s ancestral horse and was thrilled to see the effect of the poster colour as it touched the white paper. “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 readymade brush!” Initially Bhuri Bai had found it a little strange to paint in a sitting position. But the magic of painting soon drew her in. Bhuri Bai now works as an artist in the Adivasi Lok Kala Academy in Bhopal. She is a recipient of number of Indian awards. In 2007 “Story of Jungle” was auctioned by Sotheby’s in New York.

Bhuri Bai says, each time she starts to paint, she casts her mind back to various aspects of Bhil life and culture and when a particular theme becomes dominant, she brings it to life on her canvas. And her paintings have captured every aspect of Bhil life – the animals in the forest, the serenity of the forest and its trees, and gatla (memory pillars), the Bhil deities, attire, ornaments and gudna (tattoos), huts and granaries, the haat, festivals and dances and oral narratives. Bhuri Bai has recently started painting aeroplanes, television, car and buses along with trees and animals. And they all seem at ease with one another.

 About Bhil Art

Bhil paintings or Pithora paintings were originally painted on walls, this form of art has found its way on to paper and canvass and is expressed in the brilliant acrylic hues This art form is similar to Pardhan Gond Art. Outlining and pointillism is done with brush and pen. Their subject matter extends from myths, rituals and folklores to images of daily life.