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Artist documents country’s rural art on 4-year-long solo bicycle journey
Despite the presence of a treasure trove of folk art and culture, they remain underrepresented in most of the country’s formal art education curricula. This prompted Prateek Jadhav, an alumnus of Sir JJ School of Art, to embark on a solo bicycle journey to understand and explore rural art forms and cultures
Mumbai: Despite the presence of a treasure trove of folk art and culture, they remain underrepresented in most of the country’s formal art education curricula. This prompted Prateek Jadhav, an alumnus of Sir JJ School of Art, to embark on a solo bicycle journey to understand and explore rural art forms and cultures.
Jadhav this week concluded his journey at his alma mater. He is now armed with a vision to establish a folk art gallery in Murbad near Thane.
Born and brought up in Beed, Jadhav after completing his schooling, moved to Mumbai to pursue fine arts-sculpture at the esteemed Sir JJ School of Art. After completing his degree, the artist realised that there was much more to learn beyond the classroom. He then decided to embark on a journey to discover India’s underrepresented arts, of which several are fading.
However, to gain a meaningful learning experience, Jadhav needed to travel on a limited budget and cycling seemed like the best option.
Jadhav began his cycle ride, ‘Kala Pravas,’ on August 2, 2019, after extensive planning, route mapping and physical training.
He faced a major obstacle in Pune when floods hit Maharashtra and south India, making travel impossible. Nevertheless, he persevered and changed his course towards north India.
Talking to HT, Jadhav said, “The primary focus of my journey was to explore Indian folk art, tribal art forms, culture, rituals, customs and traditions. I explored various visual arts conveyed through different media such as paper, fabric, wooden strips, terracotta, dhokra, stone, masks, metal and wooden sculptures, lacquer dolls, raised and three-dimensional sculptures and traditional tattoo art.” He also explored folk tales and songs while passing through 25 states and four Union territories.
In addition to experiencing different seasons and terrains, the artist observed various customs and familiarised himself with many languages. During the Covid lockdown, a kind family in Siliguri taught him to read and write Bengali, which inspired him to appreciate Bengali literature and compose music for a few poems by Rabindranath Tagore. Jadhav made connections with people from diverse walks of life and many of them inspired him to lead a different lifestyle.
Talking about his future plans, Jadhav said, “’Kala Pravas’ has been documented in various formats such as photographs, travel diaries, videos, sketches, paintings, etc. and can be accessed at ‘Earthian Foundation.’ This venture, situated in Palu village of Murbad in Thane district, is a crowd-funded project that aims to build a library of folk arts, a studio and an amphitheater. The Earthian Foundation has urged everyone to support it in any possible way.”
