Tara Books from Chennai (Tamil Nadu, India) very kindly sent me a few of their books, not for review, but as thanks following their contacting for some advice. After I saw the books, I asked - would have begged - if it was ok to scan some samples. Illustrations from three books appear below.
I'm afraid these images hardly do proper justice to the textural wonder of the handmade paper and crisp, silkscreened illustrations. The scans themselves could only have been improved by breaking the books which wasn't even a consideration: these glorious books are treasured works of art that I'll not be destroying or parting with in this lifetime.
The Tree of Intoxication
"Gonds make liquor from the flowers of the Mahua tree. If you take small amounts, and mix it with good herbs, it is a medicine for many ailments. If you drink a little more, it is pleasant. But if you drink too much, your very form can change, and depending on your character, you may become a mouse or a tiger, a pig or pigeon."
Snakes and Earth
"The earth is held in the coils of the snake goddess. And the roots of trees coil around the earth too, holding it in place. If you want to depict the earth, you can show it in the form of a snake. It is the same thing."
The Silkworm's Home
"There was a time when people used plain cloth and yarn. Then they discovered that the silkworm weaves wonderful thread, and took it from him to make clothes. Before he is found, the silkworm sits in the threads of his own making on the Bamur tree."
The Creation of Trees
"When Shankar Bhagwan, the creator, made the first man, there was no tree, no leaf on earth. The man said, 'Lord, what will I eat? How will I live?' The creator pulled three hairs from his own body, and from them made three great trees. Then the man said, 'But Lord, there are no fruit on these trees. Three will remain three, and the three must die one day.' Then Shankar Bhagwan took the ash coating his matted hair and sprinkled the trees with it, and they began to flower and fruit. So in the days before we knew how to grow grain, it was trees that filled our stomachs with their fruit."
The Departing Visitors
"Everyone knew that holy spirits live in the Sembar tree. As night falls, its daytime visitors depart - bees, a bird, and two chameleons."
'The Night Life of Trees' © Tara Books Pvt. Ltd. 2006
Art: Bhajju Shyam, Durga Bai and Ram Singh Urveti.
Design: Gita Wolf and Rathna Ramanathan.
"The Night Life of Trees was conceived when Tara brought Gond artists down to Chennai to work with them; the Gond live in the northern state of Madhya Pradesh, 600 kilometres from the city of Bhopal. 'We noticed there was a tree in every story they told – ask them to draw a person, they draw a person under a tree. Ask them for a river, they draw a river running past a tree. Ask them for a bird, and it's a bird sitting in a tree.' " [source]
'Nurturing Walls: Animal Art by Meena Women' © Tara Books Pvt. Ltd. 2008
Photographs and screenprinted illustrations by Madan Meena.
Design: Natasha Chandani.
"Madana [public painting] is practiced by different tribes and communities in parts of Rajashtan, Gujarat and Madyha Pradesh. [..]
Meena women create beautiful Madana designs on walls and floors of the houses especially on the occasion of the Diwali festival.
For these women artists, simple shapes like squares, circles, triangles and the like become the alphabets for an exercise in picture writing.
The themes of Mandana are a variety of birds, animals and plants, as well as exquisite decorative designs which are highlighted with dots and dashes. [..]
In Mandana paintings the women record their past as well as present experiences; so we see images of creatures and things that no longer exist in their present surroundings, but are part of their memory."
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