“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life”

This quote by Pablo Picasso signifies the importance of surrounding ourselves with art, whether it’s at home or at work. For the past 3 years, we have been commissioning a work of art by a local artist, and unveiling it at the Mahindra Partners Senior Leadership Conclave. The piece of art is based on the same theme every year - a depiction of the many businesses that are part of the Mahindra Partners portfolio of companies. Each painting is over twelve square feet and can be viewed at the Mahindra Partners Corporate office at Mahindra Towers. Can you spot your company in each of these paintings?

Mumbai – Dot Art

For Mumbai, we thought of something different. The artists behind this masterpiece have intellectual disabilities. The entire artwork was created in terms of colourful dots, and was based on the traditional style of the aboriginal art from Australia which is quite useful for children with learning disabilities. The red colour in the background represents the colour of the organization; it is also a symbol of stability. The blue colour symbolizes balance and sustainability in change.

Hyderabad – Cheriyal Scroll Painting

Cheriyal scroll paintings are one of the earliest forms of audio-visual entertainment and these paintings are prepared by people of the Nakashi caste in Telangana state. The storytelling communities used to travel through villages singing and narrating the stories of the scroll which had numerous tales from various Indian Puranas. The scroll is painted on handmade khadi cloth specially prepared by applying a paste of tamarind seed along with tree gum and white clay. The colours are all made from natural substances like blue from Indigo leaves, red from the Inglikam stone, yellow from the Pevidi stone, as well as vegetables dyes. Cheriyal scroll paintings is a dying historic art, left with only one family in Hyderabad that still makes these scrolls.

Pune – Warli Art

One of the oldest forms of folk art, Warli finds its origins in Maharashtra and is made using rice flour on red mud. It features Indian aboriginal people in the form of triangular figures and depicts different aspects of community, music, connection and a simplistic rural lifestyle. The circle, triangle and square form the main shapes of its design.

This story was first published in The Partners Post, a Mahindra Partners publication.