Speaking with Pictures: Folk Art and the Narrative Tradition in India

Speaking with Picturesis a path-breaking exploration of visual narratives in folk art. Instead of talking of the recovery of narrativity in Indian modernism through the idiom of folk art, as art critics sometimes do, this book foregrounds folk art's engagement with modernity by re-looking at its figurative modes and the ways in which they are embedded in mythic thought. It discusses folk art as a contemporary phenomenon which is a part of a complex visual culture where the 'essence' of tradition is best captured in a 'new' form or medium. Each chapter picks up a theme that moves between the local and the global, thereby attempting to problematise the stereotypical view of folk artists as carriers of 'timeless tradition'. An ethnographic account of innovations that have been taking place in the folk arts is offered through a detailed analysis of the scroll painting tradition of the patuasof West Bengal and the Pardhan-Gond style of Madhya Pradesh, highlighting some recent attempts at inter-medium exchange in storytelling, such as the use of Gond art for animation and graphic novels in the patua style. The book will interest those in visual and popular culture in anthropology, sociology, literary criticism and folklore. It will also be of immense value to art historians, museologists, curators and NGOs working in media and communication, apart from those with a general interest in folk art.