How marketing strategies and design interventions can empower tribal artisans

The 12-day Tribal Art Festival, taking place in Delhi until March 13, brings together more than 75 tribal artists and over 1,000 artworks representing more than 30 tribal art traditions.

Tribal art, in India, has always been an integral part of life, inseparable from seasonal changes and festivities. Paintings are found on mud walls after a harvest, etched on floors during festivals, cast in metal for rituals, woven from forest fibre, shaped from earth and bamboo. The colours used come from soil, leaves and stones; the motifs from birds, animals, crops, ancestors and everyday memory. The process is labour-intensive and deeply connected to the ecology.

Tribal art was never meant to be decorative alone, it has always been a medium of storytelling, carrying the voices and stories of the communities. For instance, in Warli paintings (from Maharashtra), human figures are depicted in circles, symbolising agricultural cycles; Gond art from Madhya Pradesh draws from stories of forests and spirits; while Sohrai murals in Jharkhand celebrate cattle, fertility and seasonal change.

Gond art from Madhya Pradesh are drawn from stories of forests. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Celebrating this diversity of tribal visual art is the ongoing Tribes Art Fest (TAF) 2026 at Travancore Palace. Organised by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs in collaboration with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), the 12-day festival brings together more than 75 tribal artists and over 1,000 artworks representing more than 30 tribal art traditions. Open to the public until mid-March, the exhibition is an exhaustive showcase of tribal visual culture.

The show presents an impressive display of artworks. Besides Warli and Gond there are Bhil works from central and western India; Dokra metal casting from West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha, Saura paintings from Odisha, Kurumba art from Tamil Nadu, Bodo textiles from Assam and bamboo crafts from the North-East. Mandana floor designs, Godna tattoo-inspired motifs and Sohrai murals add further richness to the exhibition.

Northay Kuttan says Toda embroidery is a skill mastered mostly by women. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement