Next exhibit opens August 25

Venkat Raman Singh Shyam Contemporary Pardhan Gond Tribal Artist exhibits his work at Perspective Gallery beginning August 25 and running through October 25, 2015.  Below is an example of work to be included in the exhibit as well as an excerpt from "Painted Songs & Stories: The Hybrid Flowerings of Contemporary Pardhan Gond Art," published in 2009 by INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) written by the exhibit's curator, John H. Bowles (p. 51 fig. 7).

The Story of Creation 2003 by Venkat Raman Singh Shyam (1970- ) Ink and watercolors on paper

According to the artist Venkat Raman Singh Shyam

     "For ages Bara Deo [Great God] lay in a deep slumber upon the purain paan [lotus leaf] and nothing happened. Finally he woke up, rubbed a little dirt from his body with which he created a white bird. He ordered the bird to go in search of the earth.  The bird kept flying for three days and nights, and then came across a hooded snake peeping out of the waters. The tired bird sat on it without asking permission and was turned black due to the poisonous breath of Shesh Nag [the hooded snake], and thus the bird came to be known as Kaag Bhusund [Crow, the Black One]. The bird flew from there and then came across a crab's claw jutting out from the surface on the water.

 After listening to the crow, the crab took him down below the waters to Kichukmal Raja [Earthworm King] and his queen, who then had the earth all to themselves.  The king and queen did not want to part with the earth and so the queen started hastily swallowing it.  The crab pressed her neck and she spat earth.  The crow made earth into a ball and, holding it in his beak, flew back. 

The way to Bara Deo was long and, to the crow's dismay, he dropped the earth ball which fell into the Kingdom of Mailagarh [the Dirt Kingdom]. The bird returned to Bara Deo and reported what happened, and Bara Deo asked Vishnu to do something about it. Vishnu took the incarnation of a boar---as a boar is not bothered by the dirt and even consumes it, and also has immense power---and brought back the earth to Bara Deo. After churning the earth, he smeared it over the lotus leaf and waters. 

The Jalharin Mata [the Goddess Insect, who lives under water] was grieved, because she was then plunged into darkness.  Being a bigadna [a 'spoilsport' who undoes whatever is done], she bored through the not-yet-dried earth, and it fell apart in small pieces.  The next morning Bara Deo found clay lumps floating over the water's surface, which he again gathered and re-smeared on the surface of the lotus leaf and waters.  

That night he kept watch, and was able to catch Jalharin Mata and threw her high into the air. She came down whirling and turned into a ghongha [a conch snail], which is her form to this day.  This is how the earth was created. 

     "Depicted here in the centre of the painting is the lotus leaf upon which rests Bara Deo surrounded by waters; the wavy earthworm-like forms denote water, as well as the scattered clay lumps floating on the water.  The bird Kaag Bhusund is also shown."