Tribal artworks gifted to leaders of different countries by PM Modi

Artworks associated with tribal art and craft from different regions of India were the gifts chosen by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the leaders of various countries he has met during his three-nation tour.

Official sources said Dokra art was given to the leaders of Australia, Brazil, Cook Islands and Tonga, noting that one of the earliest expressions of this ancient art is the dancing girl artefact found from Mohenjo-Daro and Harappan excavations.

The common themes of Dokra art revolve around figurines of Hindu gods, goddesses and different animals.

Modi chose Gond paintings, one of the most admired tribal art form, for his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau. These paintings, created by dots and lines, have been a part of pictorial art on walls and floors of Gonds and it is done with the construction and re-construction of each and every house, with locally available natural colours and materials like charcoal, coloured soil, plant sap, leaves, cow dung and lime stone powder, they noted.

A Pithora was gifted to the Niue, a Pacific island country, leader. It is a ritualistic tribal folk art by the Rathwa artisans from Chhota Udaipur in Gujarat and is considered a living testament of an ever-changing ethos exemplifying highly enriched folk and tribal art culture of Gujarat, officials said.

They noted that the prime minister has always accorded special focus to promotion of tribal art and culture.

The prime minister on Wednesday concluded his three-nation tour to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia.