There is, however, tremendous potential

Unlike their counterparts elsewhere in the country, the Adivasi Raj Gonds or Kolams of Adilabad have nothing that can be considered an art form of their own. This, however, does not mean that these aboriginal people are not creative.

The Raj Gonds, belonging to the lineage of central Indian ruling class of Gonds, have only supported the Ojjis or Ojhas, a small artisan community which makes art pieces used by the former in religious and agriculture activities.

Limited market

The range of these artisans, nevertheless, is limited given the scope of their traditional market which is mostly confined to the Adivasis living in the forests of Adilabad.

The creativity of Raj Gonds and Kolams is not known to the outside world, apparently because the tribes have not been exposed to the scope of fine arts. There have been experiments, and highly successful at that, in teaching fine arts to the aboriginal people, but it needs to be elevated to the level of a livelihood activity.

“They are highly talented and creative,” vouched Padmini Rangarajan, a well known educational puppeteer from Hyderabad, who runs the Sphoorthi Theatre for Educational Puppetry, Art and Craft — STEPARC.

“I have four Adivasi youth from Adilabad district who have learnt puppet making, stage design, story concept and manipulation with relative ease.” “Boyini Prakash, a Koya tribal from Kagaznagar who is an MSc in chemistry, and Kodapa Gajanand, a Kolam from Kosai In Talamadugu mandal who studied B.Tech and also has a diploma in journalism, are involved in a few projects related to saving sparrows and figuring out the relationship between dance and puppetry. Soyam Bheem Rao of Jainoor, who is an MBA graduate and PG diploma holder in tribal development and management, and H.K. Punish, a government teacher who holds MA in English and B.Ed degrees, are using puppets to teach English schools. We at STEPARC have, in fact, sold puppets thanks to the efforts of these youngsters,” Ms. Rangarajan said.

Not that the talent and creativity of the Adivasis has totally gone unnoticed by the Integrated Tribal Development Agency, Utnoor, which looks after all developmental activity related to the tribal community in the district.

In 1985, a Kolam Art School proposed in Adilabad town could not be opened due to extraneous reasons, and the matter was not taken up again.

It was Guruji Ravinder Sharma, the founder of Adilabad’s Kala Ashram, who taught Kolam students of the Kolam Ashram School in Adilabad how to paint in his capacity as honorary arts and craft teacher. An exhibition of the paintings made by the Kolam students was held at Hyderabad in 1985 and had come in for appreciation from all.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Telangana / by S. Harpal Singh / Adilabad – August 09th, 2016