When the President of India conferred the Padma awards, Madhya Pradesh-based Gond artist Durga Bai Vyam was among those recognised with the Padma Shri for her contribution to the field of arts. Born in 1973 in Burbaspur, a village in Madhya Pradesh, Durga Bai grew up in a financially struggling family and never attended school.
At six, she learnt digna, a traditional form of painting geometric patterns on household walls and floors during weddings and harvest festivals, from her mother, while stories from her grandmother shaped her artistic imagination.
Today, she is one of the prominent artists working in the Pardhan Gond tradition, taking the folklore, mythology, nature and everyday experiences of her community to galleries, books and audiences in India and abroad. Her journey from a rural village to national recognition also highlights the importance of preserving indigenous knowledge and giving greater visibility to the women who keep such traditions alive.
From Village Walls To National Recognition
For Durga Bai, art began at home. Her mother introduced her to digna when she was just six, while her grandmother’s stories became an important source of inspiration. Her early work was appreciated within the community, even though she had no formal artistic training. Financial difficulties meant that she never went to school, but the absence of classroom education did not prevent her from developing a distinctive artistic voice.
At 15, Durga Bai married Subhash Vyam, a clay and wood sculptor. Her professional journey began taking shape in 1996 when Subhash received work at the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya in Bhopal, bringing the family to the city. It was there that Durga Bai’s talent came to the attention of artists including her cousin Jangarh Singh Shyam and Anand Singh Shyam. Their encouragement played an important role in helping her develop her skills.
Jangarh Singh Shyam particularly encouraged her not to simply reproduce what had been done for generations, but to use her skills to explore new subjects. This became central to Durga Bai’s approach: she remained rooted in Gond traditions while allowing contemporary experiences to enter her work.
Her transition to life in Bhopal was difficult. Her son fell seriously ill, requiring the family to stay in the city for an extended period. Durga Bai eventually decided to make Bhopal her home. Her paintings were first exhibited at Bharat Bhavan in 1997, but artistic recognition did not immediately bring financial stability. While caring for her three children, she also worked as a domestic worker, doing sweeping and cleaning, while continuing to pursue her art.
President Kovind presents Padma Shri to Smt. Durga Bai Vyam for Art. She is a Pardhan Gond artist hailing from Madhya Pradesh. She has worked hard to regenerate the tribal art form. Her paintings are mostly drawn from the folklores and stories of her tribe and their myths. pic.twitter.com/iisPpE0QgF
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) March 21, 2022
Keeping Gond Stories Alive
Durga Bai’s paintings are deeply rooted in the mythology and folklore of the Pardhan Gond community. She has portrayed deities including Bada Dev, regarded as the supreme god, and Chula Dev, associated with keeping the household hearth burning. Her work has also featured goddesses such as Ratmaimurkhuri, guardian of the night; Maharalin Mata; Khero Mata; Budi Mai, associated with the harvest; and Kulsahinmata, invoked when crops are sown.
Nature is another recurring theme. Rivers, trees, bamboo, birds and animals such as tigers, deer, peacocks, bulls, pigs and garden lizards appear throughout her work. Bamboo carries particular cultural significance as it is used to make instruments associated with Bada Dev, including the bana and bansuri.
Yet Durga Bai’s approach to tradition is not limited to preserving the past. After her first flight, she created a series of aeroplane paintings in the Gond style, turning a modern experience into a subject expressed through a traditional visual language.
Her work soon reached audiences beyond India. She exhibited widely and began illustrating books after participating in a 2003 workshop organised by Tara Publishing in Chennai. Her illustrations have appeared in books including The Night Life of Trees, One, Two, Tree! and Sultana’s Dream. In 2011, she and Subhash created Bhimayana: Experiences of Untouchability, a graphic biography of Dr BR Ambedkar published by Navayana. The work brought Gond visual storytelling into a narrative about caste and social discrimination and was published in multiple languages.
In 2018, the artist couple further experimented with their medium at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, creating an experimental graphic narrative on marine plywood. Alongside her own artistic practice, Durga Bai has worked with Subhash to conduct workshops and teach elements of Gond painting, helping introduce the tradition to new generations.
Her work has earned several honours, including the Rani Durgavati National Award and the Vikram Award, before the Padma Shri brought national recognition to her contribution to Indian art.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
Durga Bai Vyam’s journey reminds us that education and artistic knowledge do not always begin in classrooms. Sometimes, they begin with a mother teaching her daughter patterns on a wall, a grandmother sharing stories, and a community passing its memories from one generation to the next.
Her Padma Shri is not merely recognition for one artist. It also shines a light on indigenous traditions and the communities that have preserved them despite limited access to formal institutions. Durga Bai’s work shows that protecting cultural heritage does not mean keeping it unchanged. It can mean allowing traditional art to evolve while retaining its identity.
From village walls to international exhibitions, she has demonstrated how an inherited artistic language can tell both ancient and contemporary stories. Her journey is a reminder to value the people behind India’s diverse cultural traditions, not only when they receive national honours, but throughout their creative lives.
How can we better recognise, support and preserve the indigenous art traditions that form such an important part of India’s cultural heritage?
Also Read: Maharashtra’s Shankarbaba Papalkar Became A Father Figure To 123 Children And Grew 15,000 Trees
