Mangala Bai Maravi is singlehandedly reviving Baiga tattoo art
With the Sydney Biennale soon to wrap up, scores of artists and art enthusiasts have made their way and engaged with some of the most intriguing artwork across the world. While several practitioners at the event were proponents of contemporary arts, a select few stole the show with their impressive practice of traditional and indigenous art. Mangala Bai Maravi is one such big name present there.
Hailing from Madhya Pradesh’s Baiga tribe, Mangala Bai is the custodian of the traditional art of Baiga tattoos. A tribal community that places importance on body art, especially among women, the Baiga have specific tattoos related to coming-of-age and kinship rituals. But this art has been in danger of vanishing.
The daughter of an accomplished Baiga tattoo artist herself, Mangala Bai has been tattooing since the age of 8, and has memorised entire patterns that tell the story of the Baiga community and its members. Her efforts to keep the art of tattooing alive has been lauded the world over, and have earned her an art residency at the University of Sydney.
For the biennale, Mangala Bai’s task is slightly different from her usual practice. Instead of tattooing skin, she will be reproducing the entire range of tattoos of the Baiga tribeswomen on two fifteen-feet long canvases. With such monumental efforts, Mangala Bai might just succeed in bringing the next generation of Baiga tattoo artists, along with the attention of the entire art world.