BHOPAL: Bhuri Bai is a well-known tribal artist. She is known for popularising Bhil paintings all over the world. A native of Motibawra village of Jhabua, Bhuri Bai recalls that she came to Bhopal about 35 years ago with her husband and it was her destiny that made her meet Jagdish Swaminathan, who groomed her as an artist. “We lived near a nullah, in the area around Manav Sangrahalaya in a small shack. My sister and brother-in-law found work for me at the construction sight of Bharat Bhawan. I was paid Rs 6 per day. One day Jagdish Swaminathan ji came to me and asked me about my tribe and our culture. After talking for few minutes he asked me to draw something on paper. Till then, I had never drawn anything on paper with poster colours. In our village colours were made from herbs and plants. So, I refused. But he insisted and I drew my first painting sitting on a stones at the temple near Bharat Bhawan. He gave me Rs 10 for five paintings.
He again asked me to paint for him after almost a year and paid me Rs 1500 for 10 paintings. I really felt happy that I earned a good amount without any hard work. After a year my husband got a job at PWD office and we were given a small flat at Banganga. One day my neighbour told me that I was to get some ‘samman’ and I confused it with samaan (object) because I never thought that a labourer like me can become famous. When I received the Shikhar Samman in 1986 and Devi Ahilya award later, I realised that I am famous”, she said laughing.
Bhuri Bai is now a permanent employee at Tribal Museum and has taught all her four sons and two daughters to paint, so that after her, her paintings continue to bring fame for her tribe. “My art was God’s gift but Swaminathan Ji was the one who gave me platform to show my art”, she said.
Recalling her childhood memories and drawing them on papers, pots, pillars and Bhuri Bai has also painted a 70 feet wall at Tribal Museum in which she has painted her own life from birth to her trip to America. She has now traveled all over the country and two years back took her first foreign trip to USA. About her experience in USA, she said, “People there appreciate tribal art a lot and they also try to understand the meaning of the painting. I have not experienced this here. Only artists here understand the art but when I went there, the audience visiting the exhibition too asked me details about the paintings and how I drew it, what the dots represent and also about stories from my childhood”.
