Umesh Raju Bhoi is Drawing a Life-Study of These Tribals

While the urban crowd of today is preoccupied with a busy life, the tribal communities, dwelling in isolation far away from the city are still enjoying a chaos-free life. These innocent tribal people are still untouched by words like depression, stress, and burden, which are the most common adjectives of urban societies. They are enjoying the blessings of nature by accepting all the challenges coming their way with candor and veracity. They all are spending a euphoric existence without any regrets and querulousness from nature.

Umesh Raju Bhoi, born and bred in Nandurbar, a tribal area of Maharashtra, is an easy-going artist with ups and downs of life experiences. According to him, painting is a self-discovery and an artist paints what he feels, experiences, and sees in his life. The tribal atmosphere aided in nurturing his inner emotions to express the feelings of attachment with the tribal community through his paintings and sketches. It stands to reason that in Bhoi painting the figures are humble and unpretentious - aspects completely related to his native environment. He has been deeply influenced by the privation of these simple natured people from his childhood, who would go to far-off lands to earn their livelihood. The freehand thick and bold outlines are a distinctive attribute in his sketches and paintings. The artist has demonstrated memories of an unreal world where he has represented the daily life of tribal people by depicting them engaged in different activities. Bhoi is also trying to contrive the living image of their contentment by adding patterned foliage in an ornamental way which indicates the hidden happiness of satisfaction of all these simple natured and hardworking people. His sturdy and vigorous figures are full of energy from outside, ready to struggle with life by having a strong inner transcendental force and Bhoi knows very well how to unite all these features by using vivid and lively colors. Despite having different cultures, traditions, and lifestyles, the tribes of this area live in unity, which stimulates the artist thoughts and represents his solidified nostalgia.

Dr. Anju Bala
(Art Historian, Chandigarh)