Some of you may be aware of the renowned Madhubani painting that originated in the Maithili village of Bihar, India ages ago. Madhubani paintings are bought by many to spruce up their home interior with traditional art. But the inhabitants of Chandidih village in Jharkhand are making use of this age-old art to portray their everyday life struggle on the walls of their houses. Courtesy a community art project ‘Udbhav,’ the Madhubani wall murals can be seen outside the mud houses of this small village.

In 2016, a young artist Avinash Karn received a grant from Artreach India for running a community art project that focuses on beautifying the village walls. A group of 20 villagers led by Karn turned white washed walls of the village houses into artistic murals. The purpose of the project is not just to adorn the village, but also to highlight their daily struggles in form of paintings.

Some of the paintings on the walls portray the unavailability of water in the village and how people have to walk into the wilderness for kilometres. There is a painting that shows four women with water pot carrying her babies, while one of them is pregnant. This is to show the scenario that how women have to cross a wider area to fetch water.

The second wall mural depicts about the lack of healthcare. This painting tells the story of a local young man Dharmnath Munda, who has to take care of his sick mother and often brings medicines from a vaidya because there are no proper medical facilities in the village. The third wall mural is about the problem of deforestation that how outsiders come in and force locals the cut trees, whereas, in one part tribals can be seen worshipping the trees to celebrate a festival.

According to Karn, the tribals were not familiar with this art form. A social activist called him along with his sister Shalini Karn to conduct a Madhubani workshop for the villagers. The locals also showed the interest in learning the art form very quickly. Karn and his friends tried their best to support these villagers with art material.

Now the houses in the village can be seen covered up in colourful paintings. These paintings are surely going to grab the attention of the outsiders as well as the government to take measures for improving health, life and cultural conditions of this region.

To know more about the community art project, you may visit their official Facebook page.

Via: TheBetterIndia