Stories behind Gond and Pattachitra art

CHENNAI: For three years, architects and researchers Achyut Siddu and Apoorva Mishra have been working with indigenous communities to record stories and knowledge that have traditionally been passed down orally.

Through their research-design collective Loksutr, based in Madhya Pradesh, the duo then works with artists to turn these narratives into visual forms. Their latest exhibition, 'Myth, Memory, Form,' brings together three such stories, tracing the origins of the Narmada, the Pardhaan Gond community and painting itself.

“The three stories are very different, but they all look at origins and how knowledge is carried forward. We wanted to bring these narratives together through the visual language of the artists and the communities we work with,” says Achyut.

The first of these is the origin story of River Narmada, presented through 24 paintings arranged sequentially. Titled 'The Whispers of Immortality', the work also extends into a monumental canvas, with multiple Pardhaan Gond artists coming together to interpret the story. “The Narmada story is something that has been carried through generations.

When you see the paintings together, they read almost like a continuous story. The sequence was important because we wanted the narrative to remain intact,” shares Apoorva.

The second work, 'The Pardhaan Continuum', looks at the origin story of the Pardhaan Gond community.

Traditionally regarded as custodians of oral traditions within the Gond community, the Pardhaan have played an important role in carrying stories from one generation to another. Loksutr has presented this narrative as a 7.5-metre-long accordion book. “We were interested in the story of the community itself and the role they have played in carrying knowledge. The accordion format gave us the space to present that story as something that unfolds gradually,” says Achyut.

The third body of work, Smriti Sutradhaara, turns the focus towards painting itself. Developed in collaboration with four Odisha Pattachitra artists, it draws from Chitra Lakshana and Chitra Sutra, two early texts that deal with painting and image-making. The story is presented through 21 paintings.

“Here, we were looking at painting as a practice and asking where some of these ideas around image-making came from. We worked with Pattachitra artists to interpret the texts through their own visual language,” says Apoorva

A total of 10 artists have contributed to the exhibition, six from the Pardhaan Gond tradition and four from Odisha Pattachitra. For Loksutr, the collaboration is as important as the final work.

“We are not just documenting knowledge and putting it into an archive. We work with the communities to visualise that knowledge. The artists are part of that process and the work develops through the collaboration,” says Achyut.

The exhibition also brings together two living art traditions. Both Gond art and Odisha Pattachitra continue to evolve through the artists who practise them and Loksutr wanted to bring that continuing process into the conversation. “There is constant adaptation, improvement and innovation within these art forms. What we are bringing to Chennai is the backstory, how it all began and the culture behind these traditions,” says Achyut.

For the duo, the exhibition is also an opportunity to look at what lies behind a familiar visual language. The paintings are not simply illustrations of myths, but ways of presenting knowledge that has existed within communities for generations. “People see a painting or an art form without knowing the stories and history behind it. We want the exhibition to give them a deeper sense of these living traditions and the communities that sustain them,” Apoorva tells us.

Developed over three years, Myth, Memory, Form brings together these different narratives in a single space, showing how oral knowledge can move into paintings and other visual forms while remaining connected to the communities from which it comes. Myth, Memory, Form is on view from September 12 to December 6 at Varija Art Gallery, DakshinaChitra Museum.