Pragati Agarwal Is On A Mission To Revive Folk Art & Empower Artists Countrywide

Gurugram’s Pragati Agarwal is a self-taught art curator. While she always held a liking for all things Indian and the artistry of the country, she spent all her working life in sales. A chance encounter led her to choose a path she had never tread on before and, years later, here she is determined to revive India’s folk art and bring forward as many folk artists as she can.  

Agarwal, who runs Art Tree, is all set to host yet another show ‘Samanvay - Harmony In Nature’  which features the works of several folk artists from across the country. 

In an interview with SheThePeople, curator Pragati Agarwal talks about Indian folk art, women artists changing the narrative, the significance of passing down knowledge around culture, and why it’s integral to support art as much as other professions. 

Excerpts from the interview 

“I have been working for nearly 35 years now, but I've always been in sales. I've been fond of art in the sense if you see something nice, you enjoy it, but to make it as a profession was a different ballgame altogether,” she recalls.  

Years back, when Agarwal was supporting an artist who was keen to put up a show at a Gurugram hotel, the hotel General Manager asked Agarwal if she wanted to put up an art show for them. “I didn’t know much about art, but I felt I could educate myself, and that was it.” Agarwal took six months to learn by visiting every show, and every gallery, and reading everything old and new. “I began with contemporary art because that seemed like a stepping stone; we would put up a show for one new artist every month. I curated and organised shows by 24 artists and got several opportunities post that. 

I curated shows for two years and realised contemporary art was not reaching my heart; and because I’ve always been fond of everything Indian, I decided to focus on folk art. So, in 2016, I took up the task of showcasing folk art at a time when nobody in Delhi or NCR, touched folk art because it was not a very lucrative business. 

Agarwal soon learned about Srilal Joshi, an artist and a recipient of Padma Shri, known for reviving Phad Art in India in the 60s. “Phad is a folk art from Bhilwara, a small place in Rajasthan. So, I went to meet him. And then the first show I did on folk art was at Bikaner House on Phad art. It was the first solo exhibition of Phad anywhere in India. It got a good, decent response, but didn't sell much as at that time folk art was not so popular. 

Agarwal decided not to lose hope. She continued searching for more artists and met people across different art forms. “Since then, I must have done on folk art about six shows. I know that's my calling now.”

“It's still a challenge to popularise folk art in India, which is ironic considering these art forms are the real heritage of the country.”

With, Art Tree, which started in 2016 but had a different name back then, Agarwal aimed at getting the artists to trust her and to get the galleries. “That was another challenge because everywhere it was only contemporary art. It was also because every time you hired a gallery, I could not afford to have a place and have my gallery because the fixed cost was too much. So, to hire a gallery, you have to give them a submission, and they were not very encouraging for folk art.”

For Agarwal, the challenge also lay in financials because there was no sponsorship. Agarwal, who still doesn’t get any sponsorship, decided to put in her own money to further her work and cause. “Getting the right artists and getting them to trust you was a challenge but I believe I've crossed that barrier at least.”

Why does educating people about folk art matter?

I'll give you two reasons. One thing is, it is our Dharohar, our heritage you can call it. If our generation, our coming generations, don't know about folk art, then we are leaving a huge gap for them. In schools where art is a subject, Indian art is not taught. I believe the new education policy includes it; kids are maybe taught Indian arts also, but folk per se or tribal art is not taught. So, they don't know the history behind it. The second thing that drew me to folk art is that there’s so much storytelling.

As someone who is working inside the industry, you must have come across staggering ratios of women to men when it comes to artists.

Yes, it’s very little. Madhubani art and Warli art were primarily women-centric arts traditionally. In Madhubani, there are still women artists, however, Warli is devoid of women artists. As another example, with Phad art again, they don't teach it to women because of several patriarchal reasons. That’s how we deprive generations of art.

Tell us about the upcoming exhibition and what we expect from it.  

In 2022, we did an exhibition called Pravaah, where the theme was water. So, this year, we thought we would do something more to take a step forward. This year’s show is called ‘Samanvay - Harmony In Nature’. So, here we are trying to do everything based on nature.

We are trying to keep it areligious because most folk art is religious, and I feel the artists also need to move a step forward while keeping the techniques the same, and the motives similar to what they were. We are trying to get in new concepts, but not diametrically opposite to what they were. So, here all the artists are making works which are new, specially made for the show and trying to keep it nature-based. 

For example, we have an art form called Sanjhi. Sanjhi belongs to a place called Mathura. The artist for this has made some amazing works which are based on lotus, deer, on banana trees and he's used a new medium, this time on cloth and silver foil. This type of art was usually done on either paper or water.   

I then have an artist Manisha Jha, a National Award winner, who's doing Madhubani art. An architect by profession, she is doing something big on the concept of honeybees and how a honeycomb is supposed to be a perfect construction in nature.  Then we have Sadashiv, Baalu and Praveen Mhase, from the family of Jivya Shoma Mhase who revived the Warli art. Furthermore we also have  Japani Shyam, who is the daughter of Jangarh Singh Shyam, an artist who revived the Gond art.  

So, we are trying to innovate, move out and give a larger vision to the whole thing of folk art. We’re trying to reach out to people, whether or not they purchase, it’s important that they are at least aware of our art forms.

How can we give more spaces and platforms for women artists from smaller cities to come forward?

This is a bigger responsibility and an important one. See, Madhubani has a lot of women artists, so that is great. But still, some artists keep training but do not get due recognition, and it's a systemic and layered problem. It's going to be an uphill task.

We need to go to those places where these arts have originated and get artists from there. If we want to train artists, especially women artists in tier one tier two cities and tribal areas, we need to be at the place where they reside so that their daily chores don't get affected. We need to bring women artists to the limelight first by understanding their issues at the grassroots and then fighting the challenges that hinder their progress.

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