Bhuri Bai

Bhuri Bai is an Indian artist from the Bhil community of Madhya Pradesh, recognised for her vibrant paintings that draw upon Indigenous traditions, lived experience, and the natural world. Born in a village in the Jhabua district, near the Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat border, she began painting at the age of ten, creating murals on the walls of her home and village. After moving to Bhopal in search of work, she encountered artist and cultural thinker Jagdish Swaminathan, who encouraged her to translate her traditional visual vocabulary onto paper and canvas. She became the first woman in her community to pursue painting in these mediums.

Bhuri Bai’s paintings are characterised by vivid colours, rhythmic patterns, and intricate arrangements of dots and stylised forms. Drawing from the landscapes, animals, plants, and everyday experiences of Bhil life, she creates compositions in which human settlements and the natural environment coexist. Her work often brings domestic and wild worlds together, reflecting the interconnectedness of people, animals, and the land, while occasionally introducing humour and subtle tensions into these relationships.

Her work has been exhibited widely in India and internationally, including at CIMA Gallery, Kolkata, and Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai, as well as in the exhibition Other Masters of India at the Musée du quai Branly in Paris in 2010. In recognition of her contribution to Indian art, she was awarded the Padma Shri in 2021. Bhuri Bai has played an important role in bringing Bhil artistic traditions to wider audiences while establishing a distinctive contemporary practice.