MITHILA
PAINTING
Presented
by women from Mithila
For centuries, the
women of the Mithila region of northern Bihar and southern Nepal have done wall
and floor paintings on the occasion of marriages and other domestic rituals.
These paintings, inside their homes, on the internal and external walls of
their compounds, and on the ground inside or around their homes, create sacred,
protective, and auspicious spaces for their families and their rituals.
Although the images were similar, women of different castes developed distinctive
styles of painting.
Many women have been
recognized as artists of national and international stature. Furthermore, women
of several castes, are now painting which brought diversity in designs and
motifs used, along with the subject matter of the paintings has expanded to
include ancient epics, local legends and tales, domestic, rural, and community
life, ritual, local, national, and international politics, as well as the
painters' own life stories. Artists of different castes and genders are now
borrowing themes and styles from one another. Mithila painting has demonstrated
extraordinary vitality and become a vibrant and aesthetically powerful
tradition.
These paintings,
containing sacred symbols, are believed to bring good luck and prosperity in
the household. When used on fabric, they
bring style statement with a gracious combination of ethnicity and modernity. The
women in Keoti, a village in North Bihar, are engaged in making these beautiful
paintings, which can adorn your walls or become your style statement, while you
contribute towards their livelihood with dignity.
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