Arts of the Earth presents ‘The Creator and His World: Classical and Contemporary Living Traditions of India’, a group exhibition featuring works by Manish Soni, Arun Sharma, Amit Mahadev Dombre, Naresh Bhoye, MV Pramod, N. Harinath, Dilip Shyam, Rajendra Kumar Shyam, Santoshi Shyam, Jyoti Uikey, Kishan Uikey, Japani Shyam, Kailash Pradhan, Dilip Shyam, Rahul Shyam, Vijay Uikey, Radhe Shyam Sharma, Mangla Ram, Ganesh Vangad, Mohammed Rizwan Khatri and Bhuri Bai. 

The exhibition brings together works from different genres across the length and breadth of India. The ’Creator’ is represented in genres like the Pichhwai, Kerala murals and Kalighat paintings. While the Pichhwai’s showcase an intricately painted figure of Srinathji (Krishna) flanked by rows of gopis, cows and lotuses, the Kalighat artists painted realistic and humanised depictions of gods and goddesses in their paintings. The Kalighat paintings were sold as religious souvenirs to devotees and pilgrims in the 19^th century. On the other hand, the Kerala mural paintings were originally murals made on temple walls, which later found the canvas to be their new surface. The figures of Gods and Goddesses are highly stylised with prominent eyebrows, coloured lips, elaborate headdresses, broad noses, and elongated eyes with hands folded in different mudras. The ‘Creator’s world’ or, in other words, nature has been represented in works of genres like Kalamkari, Warli, Rogan, Bhil and Gond art. Various elements of nature- trees, birds and animals are all painted in the characteristic styles of the respective genres. The pantheon of gods is intimately connected to nature in these genres. The floating abstract figures of Bhil art, articulately drawn lines and dots work of Gond art that conveys a sense of movement, the triangular shapes and lines of Warli art, the elaborate designs made with bright natural colours and castor oil on cloth in Rogan art, the free hand drawings of motifs like peacocks, paisleys, flowers in rustic colours in Kalamkari art, are all examples of strong artistic traditions being transferred onto paper and canvas.

The exhibition seeks to showcase works that are symbolic of the cultural and social influences witnessed by the artists over several years, with a constant endeavour to find a space for themselves in the contemporary art establishment.