Defining the Concept of Visual Space in Mural Art Traditions of Rural Eastern Jharkhand

Abstract

The rural communities of eastern Jharkhand paint their mud houses annually before the festivals. Various visual forms such as flowers, animals, birds and dancing human forms are painted on the external and internal wall of the mud houses. The placements of these visual forms on the wall vary from one region to another. To understand the concept of visual space in this art form among these communities, ethnographic research has been conducted in three administrative divisions (Santhal Pargana, North Chotanagpur and Kolhan) of eastern rural Jharkhand. Unstructured interview and documentation method were used to understand the concept of visual space in mural art tradition. Specifying the three mural-making mediums, three visual layouts are discussed in this study. Following these three layouts, the concept of physical and conceptual space of rural mural artist has been explained.