2009

Warli Painting – a means of earning a sustained

livelihood for the Warli Tribal Community

Submitted By
Mrs. Radha Iyer
Dr. Patricia Gokhale
Ms. Ritica Bhardawaj
Mr. Rajdeep Singh

10/4/2009

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FAB INDIA Workshop

The Warli painting workshop, held in January 2009 in collaboration with FabIndia
(www.fabindia.com) was a rewarding experience. The child-artists of Nareshwadi Learning
Centre (www.nareshwadi.org) along with their art teacher congregated at FabIndia’s leading
store in Kala Ghoda, Colaba, Mumbai for a hands-on workshop. Can one imagine the elite
urban Mumbai shoppers learning something from these tribal children? Seems highly
improbable, however, this is exactly what happened and both, the trainers and the trainees
gained immensely.

The traditional Warli art form practiced in remote villages in Dahanu Taluka, Thane District,
Maharashtra, was the subject of the training workshop titled, “The nuances of Warli
painting”. This was organized by the student social cell of the K.J. Somaiya Institute of
Management Studies & Research, popularly known as SIMSR (www.somaiya.edu). The
trainers were inexperienced, had mixed emotions of excitement and nervousness, probably
due to the unexpected number of one hundred and twenty-five urbanites who had enrolled for
the workshop. Despite the language barriers and the challenge of never having done this
before, the child artists from Dahanu won the hearts of the participants at the workshop with
their competency in Warli painting, an art form is acclaimed both in India and overseas.
Warli painting gained popularity in the late 70’s, with the sheer tenacity of. Jivya Soma
Mashe, a renowned Warli artist, who put this art form on the world map. (See the FABINDIA
workshop image in Appendix)

The Girivanavasi Pragati Mandal (GVPM) and the Girivanavasi Educational Trust (GVET)
founded by Padmabhushan Karamshibhai Jethabhai Somaiya in Dahanu Taluka, provides
residential schooling facilities for Warli children with the opportunity to pick up vocational
skills alongside regular classroom learning. Deeply compassionate, Karamshibhai based his
life on the ideal "what you receive from society give back multifold", and envisioned an
empowered tribal community through education.

The Warlis
The Warli or Varli are an Indian Schedule Tribe. These indigenous people live in Thane,
Nasik and Dhule districts of Maharashtra, the Valsad District of Gujarat, the Dadra & Nagar

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Haveli and Daman & Diu union territories. Our study area is concentrated in the forests of the
Sahyadri Mountains in Dahanu taluka of Thane district. They have their own beliefs and
customs which have little in common with mainstream Hinduism. The Warlis speak an
unwritten language which is a combination of Sanskrit, Marathi and Gujarati words. The
Warlis live in hamlets of thatched mud-huts , which are constructed in a way that they
surround a central open space. They are primarily dependant on monsoon-fed agriculture and
migrate to nearby towns in search of work post monsoon. Historians say that the Warli
tradition can be traced to the Neolithic period between 2,500 BC and 3,000 BC.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warli)

Our focus area is the tribal belt of Dahanu Taluka comprising Warli, Katkari, Dodhi and
other marginalized communities , lacks educational opportunities. The tribal communities are
mostly marginal farmers and landless laborers and work in the agriculture or construction
sectors. The area is based on a one- crop economy as irrigation facilities are unavailable. Post
monsoons, entire families move to nearby industrial towns for work. Older children follow
their parents or stay back to look after younger siblings. Either way, children miss out on
schooling and nurturance in a safe environment. Some Non Profits like GVPM/GVET are
making efforts to improve their situation in a holistic manner. (Primary data of people in the
focus area is provided in the Appendix)

The Warli Art

Warli art is one of the most intriguing forms of Indian folk paintings. A traditional Warli
painting depicts a normal work day in the life of the Warli. Their rudimentary wall paintings
use a basic graphic vocabulary: a circle, a triangle and a square. The circle and triangle come
from their observation of nature; the circle represents the sun and the moon, the triangle is
derived from mountains and pointed trees. Only the square seems to be invention, indicating
a sacred enclosure or a piece of land. So, the central motive in each ritual painting is the
square, known as the "Chaukat" where Palaghata, the mother goddess dwells, symbolizing
fertility. Male gods are unusual among the Warli and are frequently related to spirits that
have taken a human shape. The central motif in these ritual paintings is surrounded by scenes
portraying hunting, fishing and farming, festivals and dances, trees and animals. Human and
animal bodies are represented by two triangles joined at the tip; the upper triangle depicts the
trunk and the lower triangle the pelvis. Their precarious equilibrium symbolizes the balance

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of the universe, and of the couple, and has the practical and amusing advantage of animating
the bodies. (See Warli Paintings in Appendix)
The ritual paintings are usually done inside the huts. Warli paintings are strangely unlike
other folk paintings of India, which consist of various primary colors in abundance. Instead
they are painted in white on brown or brick red mud base. The walls are made of a mixture of
leaves, earth and cow dung, making a red ochre background for the wall paintings. While the
white pigment is a mixture of rice paste and water with gum as a binding. They use a bamboo
stick chewed at the end to make it as supple as a paintbrush. The tribal art, which is realistic,
is traditionally done to celebrate weddings or harvests and is a stylized depiction of the life
and activities of the tribe. The lack of regular artistic activity explains the very crude style of
their paintings, which were the preserve of the womenfolk until the late 1970s. But in the
1970s this ritual art took a radical turn, when Jivya Soma Mashe started to paint to showcase
this art form to the world. Sadly, there are few practicing women Warli artists today.
Commercialization has made the art form a male prerogative.
(http://www.somaiyasocialcell.com/ssc_Warli.html & http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Warli)

GVPM and GVET

GVPM and GVET are registered non-profit organizations that provide an integrated rural
development model of education, health, agricultural development and economic self-
reliance for the tribal community in the Dundhalwadi area (about 120 km. from Mumbai) of
Dahanu Taluka, Thane District in Maharashtra. The campus, located in Village Pardhi of
Dundhalwadi Groupgram Panchayat, is known as the Nareshwadi Learning Centre (NLC)
and comprises the school, residences and vocational training centre.

Nareshwadi Learning Centre (NLC)

The Nareshwadi campus is surrounded by paddy fields and an orchard of fruit and coconut
trees, contributing to an atmosphere of spontaneous creativity and learning. NLC believes
that the opportunities and outcomes in which the students are engaged should be shared with
the community, and the community's rich culture and heritage should be ingrained in the
children's development at school. This has been the driving force to engage the children in
learning Warli art from a young age, as most of them are from the Warli community. The

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tribe is known for its distinct Warli painting which has a worldwide presence. Many famous
Warli artists have been felicitated in India and abroad. However, the art form is not known to
the younger generation. Nareshwadi has started an Arts & Crafts Centre which is headed by a
local lady Warli artist, one of the few practicing women artists. She trains the children in the
nuances of the art form as well as the richness of their culture.
Providing training for income-generating livelihood is one of the principles of GVET, hence
vocational activities were introduced for students from class 7. Along with skill training,
some of the key areas addressed were developing a marketing channel for art and craft
products, developing training programs for enhancement of other vocational skills and
educating students in understanding the ethical market based economic system.

SIFE Somaiya – Social Cell of SIMSR

The initiative by the Social Cell of SIMSR is to play the role of a catalyst. It has worked to
bring the skills of the Warli painters to the outside world. SIFE Somaiya believes that “Big
change originates from a small initiative”. With this philosophy the enthusiastic and young
team of Somaiya students is committed to bring in the “Big Change”. The mission of “Project
Warli” is to provide the tribal community and youth of Nareshwadi the platform they need to
develop their Warli art for the world to see.

Contribution of Jivya Soma Mashe in making the art popular worldwide

Jivya Soma Mashe pioneered the traditional Warli art beyond the walls of his hut to the world
canvas. Mashe's images are based on simple forms keeping intact the simplicity of the Warli
art form. His talent was noticed, first nationally and was rewarded by Nehru and Indira
Gandhi. International recognition came from Magicians de la Terre and Centre Pompidou
which prompted many young Warli men to follow suit. They started to paint regularly for
commercial purposes and so developed skills that won admiration and wealth.

Social Cell’s Initiative to use Warli Art for poverty reduction

Poverty is a trap which does not let those entwined in its destructive web, escape. Lack of
capital – human, physical and natural, leads to a vicious cycle that perpetuates poverty. The
poor themselves cannot contribute to capital formation as that needs savings. For the poor,

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saving is a luxury they can ill afford with their meager earnings. It is observed that the
families around Dundhalwadi tend to save by sacrificing a meal or a child’s education or
health care and use these funds to have a social get together during a marriage in the family,
which they hold in higher priority. Fig.no.1 illustrates the case of a family facing extreme
poverty, it shows how the poverty trap sucks the poor into an endless cycle of negative
growth due to lack of capital formation.

Basic Needs

ZERO
Household
Savings Decline Negative
Impoverished Economic
Household In Capital Growth

Per
PersonPe
ZERO rson
(Negative)
Tax
ZERO Population
Payments Growth and
Public Depreciation
Investment

Budget

Fig No.1 The poverty trap

The only source of income these tribal people have is from agriculture and even that is
seasonal. There are also no irrigation facilities and they are totally dependent on the
monsoons. As a result they are able to grow only one crop per year which leads to migration
to the cities in search of work. Their meager savings are spent on drinking a local brew called
Tadi. To exacerbate their condition, moneylenders, who are their only source of borrowing,
charge high interest rates close to 25% per month. The Warlis remain impoverished despite
the rich skills they possess and continue to be in the trap of poverty.

The target population observed has low incomes. This small income needs to be allocated for
daily living requisites. Thus it cannot be expected to run a sustainable business by targeting
this segment of society without first being able to help them address their problem of income
generation and then helping them out with prioritizing consumption.

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Fig No.2 is adapted from Sachs’ model of the role of Outside Development Assistance, to
show how development institutions can support breaking the poverty trap.

Basic Needs

Household
Capital
Savings
Impoverished Per
Savings
Household Person Economic
Growth
Public
Training Microfinance/ Investment
(Negative)
Production
Public Population
Growth and
Budget
Private Depreciation
Tax
Enterprise

Fig No.2 The Role of Private Enterprise in breaking the Poverty Trap

(http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0198-360711/Poverty-traps-and-the-robust.html)

(www.springerlink.com/index/6795R3231T2T000W.pdf)

As shown above, we believe that the poor should be involved in a production based
developmental model, reminiscent of the Lijjat papad and Amul models, which allows
participating members to increase their income due to better returns on their investment of
capital, time and effort.

The Warli tribal community does not seem to realize that they have a treasure in their art
form which can help them to come out of this never ending poverty trap. They need to
organize the practice of this art form through more professional outlets which will fulfill a
small percentage of the demand of traditional art form in the market. A normal Warli painting
on an average size will fetch close to Rs 300. So if a painter is able to make even two
paintings per day and sell it at an appropriate price, he/she can earn close to Rs 600 per day
which is more than the wages earned as a migrant laborer. But this is not as simple as it
seems. Many challenges have to be faced and dealt with.

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Challenges
Some non-profits agencies like GVPM/GVET and volunteers from SIFE Somaiya endeavor
to work in collaboration to build the capacity of the villagers, develop strategies for creating
and implementing a complete value chain and to design a “lift and shift” model. But to
achieve this, various problems and challenges need to be addressed.

Unawareness
The Warli artists are neither aware of the worldwide demand for their painting, nor of the
price it commands. Taking advantage of this ignorance, there are various intermediaries,
between the painters and customers, who commission these paintings for meager amounts
and sell them at exorbitant rates. Unfortunately, some of their own community’s men with
outside contacts act as agents.

Inferiority Complex
There is also the problem of inferiority and unassertiveness while dealing with any person
from the city. It disables them to interact, negotiate and get the right value for their products.

Very Low Literacy Rate

The literacy rate is very low and they lack basic accounting abilities which are a must to carry
out the trading process not only in painting but also for the agricultural products they usually
grow and sell.

No Knowledge about Market Economics

To earn a sustainable livelihood from Warli art they should have knowledge of market
dynamics, market trends, information on pricing, information on suppliers, distributors and
the competition they have to face from other art forms. They also have to compete with the
print form of Warli art which is commercially available now days.

Decreasing Popularity of the Warli Art among the Warli tribe

More alarming is the fact that fewer and fewer Warlis are taking to painting endangering the
continuity of this ancient art form due to lack of continuous demand for Warli paintings, less
marketing penetration and lack of government’s support.

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Low Inventory
These artistes are also not adaptable to market demand. There are some painters who are
interested in carrying out this art as a means of livelihood but they face the problem of low
inventory. They are not able to forecast the demand for their paintings and do not feel the
need to maintain a safety stock.

Some approaches to address the situation:

As a pilot, GVPM/GVET with the support of the SIFE Somaiya attempted to bring about a
change in the artists’ lives by providing them some work. This has led to some families, apart
from agriculture, also taking to Warli painting as a means to supplement their income.
Initially Warli art was only restricted to wall paintings with a limited demand. However, with
more innovative design possibilities, Warli paintings are being extended to various products
like bed sheets, cloth bags, hand bags, gift wrapping papers, flower vases, pen stands, mobile
stands , greeting cards , cushion covers , pillow covers , curtains, table mats , table cloths ,
hot plates, tea coasters, notepads and bookmarks which has helped in increasing both
awareness and demand (List of Price Range of the products is given in Appendix) . With this
market expansion, they have a stream of work to do to fulfill the market’s demand.

SIMSR students have played a big role in expanding the demand for Warli paintings as gifts
and mementoes, which has created a regular source of business for them. During festive
seasons like Diwali, New Year etc, kiosks are put up at many corporate offices. This helps
bring in an additional business for the artists. The artists are encouraged to participate in these
kiosks and understand the art of selling, as well as the expectations of their customer base.
Some large lifestyle stores (such as Ethnicity), R mall - Mulund have provided space in their
shops or stalls for exhibitions and sale of these Warli products which has given a tremendous
impetus. Warli artists are also introduced to the dealers enabling them to independently
secure input customer orders. (See the Media Coverage section in Appendix)

The positive response of the participants at the FabIndia Workshop was an indication of the
possibility of a niche high value market segment that appreciates tribal art. Other initiatives
taken in this direction include tie up with an NGO known as Shanti Hastakala, which has
helped these painters to get regular painting orders.

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With the growing demand of Warli products, Nareshwadi Learning Centre has introduced
Warli painting as a vocational skill which can become a sustainable source of livelihood
along with the small scale agriculture they practice (Refer to Figure Sustainability of Warli
Project in the Appendix). Besides training in painting, a Financial literacy program is also
conducted which teaches the tribal artists various aspects of saving, budgeting, banking and
microfinance (Refer to figure Financial Literacy).

Distribution
The village of Dahanu is well connected by road with links to NH 8. Currently, the supply
chain process is by two methods:

 Collection of the raw material like special paints and delivery of the final products from
the artists is done by a daily milk van delivery system (of Suruchi – NGO) which operates
between Dahanu & Vidyavihar area a central suburb of Mumbai, hence no cost is
involved in this process.

 Delivery of the raw material like bed sheets, paper, plain bags is done by the SIMSR
social cell students on their monthly visits to the community

 Procurement of some of the raw material is done in the community at Dahanu. These
include products like wooden tea coasters and pen stands where villagers make it
themselves thereby involving the community.

Source of Funds

As mentioned above, for earning a sustainable livelihood for the tribal people, we have to
adopt a “lift and shift” strategy and for initial upliftment, some capital is needed. SIFE
Somaiya receives annual grants for their various ongoing projects related to livelihood in
which Warli is one of the most special projects. These funds include KPMG Business Ethics
Grant, HSBC grant and Syntel Seed Grant. A part of these funds has been utilized in the
Warli project while the rest is being utilized in the other livelihood projects.

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Future plan of action:
The target is to increase the number of painters who gets professionally engaged in the Warli
paintings. With growing awareness more and more tribal people are willing to go for this
source of income, so there is an increased need for big orders on a continuous basis.

The SIFE Somaiya students are also keen to introduce the Geographical Indication (GI)
which will help the art gain more popularity as well as protect it from plagiarists. Having the
GI mark will convey an assurance of quality and distinctiveness which is essentially
attributable to the fact of its origin in the defined geographical locality, region or country
where the art form originates and is traditionally practiced. It will provide legal protection to
the art and artists and will help in promoting the economic prosperity of these artists
belonging to the GI territory. (www.geographicindications.com)

The SIFE Somaiya is also working on expanding the market for corporate gifts where Warli
paintings on notepads, pen stands, greeting cards, bookmarks, diaries which the companies
give to their clients and customers. This will benefit the Warli painters as they will be getting
bulk orders. Just like any other business, innovation and new ideas are required to ensure that
there is a demand for this art. Warli calendars for 2010 are in the pipeline and corporate
offices with SIMSR alumni are expected to support this. It is also tying with Art Galleries
like Nehru Centre Art Gallery and Jehangir Art Gallery for the exhibition and sale of Warli
Paintings.

In the future, link up with government agencies like the Central Cottage Industries Emporium
and Maharashtra State Small Industries Development Corporation sales outlets will be made
for greater market reach through institutional bodies which the artists themselves could
approach without an intermediary. Some NGO tie ups are also high in the agenda as they can
help in getting sizeable product contracts and to make the venture more sustainable for the
artists (Shanti Hastakala is one such NGO). It would be advantageous to also link up with
retail store chains like Big Bazaar, Future retail group etc. to bring this art to middle class
consumers and expand the market base. For the overseas market, organizations like
Tradecraft, whose mission is to fight poverty through fair trade, would be a good source to
contact.

In order to better utilize resources and optimize logistics, the formation of self help groups
(SHG) is envisaged where all the members practice Warli art. The SHGs can also obtain

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institutional microfinance which will cut out the dependence on the local money lender. Each
member of the group is accountable to return the loan in regular installments. Studies have
shown that the default rate in such groups is very less as compared to normal personal loans.
Hence, SHG will be a good format for promoting and sustaining Warli art as a viable
livelihood.

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Appendix:

Summary of the focus group( Primary Data)

– Villages – Bordii, Dhundalwadii, Sarvand, Chinchale, Ambivale Turf Bahare

– Overtly dependent on Monsoon
(Only 1 crop per year due to lack of irrigation facilities)

– Leads to migration in search of job

– Migration during rest of the year to Vapi, Vasai as wage labourers in brick
kilns and sand collection
– Savings are spent on drinking local intoxicating drink – Tadi

Population Characteristic:

– 7100 people
– Over 90% are Scheduled Tribe (Tribe Classification: Varli)
– Literacy Rate around 35%
– Major occupation: Cultivation
– Average Land Holding: 2-3 acres
– Average MHI: Rs. 3000/-
– Savings: Minimal
– Large Borrowings: Moneylenders , Interest Rate: 25% per month

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Dahanu Map (http://maps.google.co.in)

Product Range (Courtesy SIFE Somaiya)

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Products with their prices: (Courtesy SIFE Somaiya)

Product Price Range

Bed Sheets (Single and Double) 200 and 350
Cloth Bags 80 – 250
Hand Bags 50-250
Flower Vase 100
Pen Stand 75
Mobile Stand 75
Greeting Cards 25 – 40
Tea Coasters 250 – 275
Paintings (Paper and Cloth) 250 – 4000
Key chains 40-80
Table Mats (6 pieces) 120-180

Sustainability of Warli Project (Courtesy SIFE Somaiya)

In the above figure, SIFE somaiya is acting as intermediary between Nareshwadi Learning
Centre (NLC) and Warli Artists in rural area (Producers) and various NGOs and Ethnic
lifestyle stores in urban areas (Distributors and Retailers) to make the Warli Project
Sustainable

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Financial Literacy (Courtesy SIFE Somaiya)

In the above figure, left side depicts the modules which have already been conducted by SIFE
Somaiya for Warli Artists and right part depicts modules which are planned for future as a
part of Financial Literacy drive

FAB INDIA Workshop (Courtesy SIFE Somaiya)

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Media Coverage

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Warli Paintings (Courtesy SIFE Somaiya)

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