Bhuri Bai

Bhuri Bai, a widely renowned Bhil folk artist, was born in 1968 in Pitol village bordering Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. She was a muralist from a young age, inspired by members of her community painting Pithora art on walls. Thrilled by vivid colours and patterns emerging from murals and village festivities, she recreated them on the walls of her home at the age of ten. She made her colours using natural substances like turmeric, leaves, soot and mud. In her paintings and murals, Bhuri blends scenes from everyday life, myths about goddesses, oral stories and animals, and the bustling landscape she grew up in.

At the age of 17, she moved to Bhopal to work as a construction worker in Bharat Bhavan. There, she met Jagdish Swaminathan and was introduced to paper, colours and brushes. Under Swaminathan’s encouragement, she began painting on canvas. Bhuri became the first woman from her tribe to paint with acrylic on canvas and paper, and her work elevated Bhil art to international recognition. In recent times, Bhuri has been painting scenes from urban life, marking a transition from traditional themes of Bhil art.

Bhuri Bai’s work has been displayed in India and in galleries and museums of Australia, Europe and the United States. She was awarded the Shikhar Sanman from the Government of Madhya Pradesh in 1986, and the Ahalya Sanman in 1998. Bhuri was invited on a presidential delegation to Australia in 1999 with Jangarh Singh Shyam, where she participated in a workshop between Australian aboriginals and tribal Indian artists. She was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2021.

Bhuri Bai lives and works in Bhopal, where she is a resident artist at the Madhya Pradesh Tribal Museum.