It’s Echoing — Folk Stories and the Transition within Art and Artists at the Mumbai Museum!

In the rural regions of Maharashtra, travellers belonging to the community narrate stories specific to their indigenous communities, and they have their versions of epics like Ramayana. While the Padma Shri awardee Parshuram Gangavane has been aiming to preserve this culture, it is his sons’ work that is speaking out, not through this performative art but through their paintings that depict a distinct version of Ramayana performed in their community in a recently started exhibition named ‘Metamorphosis’ at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, (CSMVS). 

There has been a cultural change with “metamorphosis” as a word that is no longer confined to textbooks. Franz Kafka’s popular novella, ‘The Metamorphosis’ has made a drastic comeback to pop culture not only did the recitations of the novella gain popularity in the recent literature festivals, but the quick Instagram reels over the novel has become very popular with the influencers – majorly either vested in literature or philosophy – where they can be seen talking about the story of the novella and the psychological references from the same. However, it is this overreaching popularity that has even got fashion brands coming up with collections with the name ‘Metamorphosis’, all of which highlight the recently-gained usage of the word.

For the young curators of the 2024–25 batch of students enrolled in the ‘CSMVS Postgraduate Diploma in Museology and Conservation,’  ‘Metamorphosis, Art, Artists & Traditions — Celebration of tribal and folk art of India’, it signifies how the exhibition holds the change in the artforms and the artists, one of the curators who provided us with the walkthrough to it, says. “While curating this, we noticed that artists have deviated from the past and are highlighting the contemporary issues through the artwork. Either the art form has changed, or the artists themselves have transformed a lot,” Aanchal Gupta, one of the curators, mentioned.

It is the Marathi folk songs that we hear as we take a glance at the ‘Chitrakathi’ by Chetan Parshuram Gangavane and Eknath Parshuram Gangavane, the sons of Parshuram Gangavane. The performing arts have been depicted on paper through watercolour, where their community’s version of ‘Aranya Kanda’ is shown. “It shows the accidental death of Subradaitya, son of Ravana’s sister Surpanakha, at the hands of Lakshmana and how it turns into the Surpanakha going to Lakshman for revenge and not to woo her,” Gupta, 33, says.

Change within the artforms and the artists

Another folklore emerges from Odisha as we proceed further. This time also depicts the cultural change of women taking up a patrilineal art, the ‘Pattachitra’. “This art form was practised only by men initially; it is one of the inspiring women like Gitanjali Das who took it up,” Gupta says as we look at the ‘Navagunjara’ created using the Pattachitra art. On display is the Navagunjara, which is considered to be a mythical creature from Odia folklore. Nine animals compose the creature, where there is the head of a rooster, the neck of a peacock, the hump of a bull, the waist of a lion, the tail of a serpent, and the legs of an elephant, tiger, deer, and horse. “This comes from Odia Mahabharata, where Vishnu has come to test Arjuna during his forest time,” Gupta points her finger towards Arjuna as he is seen sitting with folded hands as he bows down to Vishnu.  

What Gupta likes the best is how this artwork, curated by her and her fellow curators, depicts the change in the gender role, she states. Similarly, another changed form of ancient art grabs our attention – the Phad painting by Kalyan Joshi of Rajasthan’s Bhilwara, showcasing the scenes of the COVID-19 pandemic using the natural pigments on the cloth. The 700-year-old painting tradition from Bhilwara would narrate the religious stories of the local deities. However, it shows the miseries of COVID-19 here, in this artwork by the national award recipient, Joshi. 

‘Art’ that knows no religion

Just like Joshi, who converted the ancient Phad to give a mix of contemporary issues, a craft-to-art display hangs on one of the sides here in the exhibition. This is Kantha embroidery work, which was used to make quilts in the rural parts of West Bengal. Over the years, the rural women belonging to these regions also started using Kanthas as a canvas to depict the stories from their day-to-day lives.

As we stand ahead of the artwork by the Shilpaguru Alima Khatun, who worked with at least 40 artisans to handcraft the 'Kantha' piece, a sense of unity prevails where a Muslim artist takes the liberty to portray a regional variant of the life of Rama through 64 different embroidered panels where 20 types of stitches are used. “It is amazing to see how art unifies and is above any societal conventions,” Gupta says, adding that it is unique to see the craft converting to an art form. This folklore representation also depicts Rama worshipping the goddess Durga – which might be the Bengal’s folk version of Ramayana making the artwork, another storyteller.

Moreover, ‘Metamorphosis’ explores the Gond art of Venkat Raman Singh Shyam, highlighting the issues created due to mining; Kiran Vinayak Gorwala and his Warli painting showcasing the road, rail, and air transportation in Mumbai, and the work of Brahmdeo Ram Pandit, who has imagined what must be under the islands of Mumbai, already made up of seven islands — could it be even more?

Located on the first floor of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), ‘Metamorphosis’ finds itself tucked in between other exhibitions also displayed on the same floor. While many passersby just glance at it, some are really interested in witnessing the local roots from the different parts of the country. “I had a good conversation with a family from Karnataka over the head gears that are used during the folk dances in South India,” Gupta says while a few people explore the procured masks from Odisha, rooted in the Odia community for as long as 6 to 8 century that were on display.

“There has been a revival of folk culture and roots in the country,” she says on the evident mood of the country.