Page 36 - Mann Ki Baat - English

Durgabai Vyam
Padma Shri awardee Gond Artist

Conservation of Endangered Art & Stories

In his ‘Mann ki Baat’ programme, the Prime Minister appreciated
several efforts that are being made to preserve the priceless heritage
of the country. One such patron and artist is Durgabai Vyam, who
was awarded the Padma Shri in 2022 for reviving Gond art. Being an
accomplished Gond artist, she is also striving hard to teach this art
to the younger generation and thereby making them aware of the
vanishing folk tales of India through the medium of art.

Gond painting is a wall art. stories of Gods and Goddesses,
Initially, it involved the colours origin of bamboo, Mother Earth,
made of red, black, and Ramraj birth and karma. We create
soil and today acrylic colours are stories on the vanishing tales
also used. Since childhood, I used
to make clay paintings on the
walls for decoration in marriages,
Diwali, and Falgun. But I was
unaware of actual Gond painting.
When my husband and I moved
to Bhopal, I learned painting from
Jangarh Singh Shyam, who is my
mentor. I learned Gond painting
from him and my husband also
taught me.
In particular, I have painted
a lot on the stories told by the
people of my grandmother's
generation. Those were the

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