That India is known for its very fine painting traditions is not new. The general public once in a while is treated on the Antique Road Show with such discoveries. The large number of followers of the TV show, whom after so many years have become experts  in their own right, quickly label an Indian miniature as Mughal art.

Less known to the general public are the courtly paintings of those of the school of Rajastani, Pahari and Decconi, which for decades scholars have dedicated their time and effort in studying . The famous miniature painting schools are now virtually extinct due to the demising of aristocratic patronage.  With India becoming one the global economically powers, is there any hope that the nouveau riche will become the cultural aristocrats of the 21th century and adopt the dying breed of miniature painters? Who will say!

Indian Painting : The lesser-known traditions disregards, in this case, these courtly schools and exposes the lesser known schools. Lesser known schools which did survive and are still in the process of evolving. Why is that? Simply because they are prime examples of folk art which were given through from generation to generation and were in no way dependent on the support of the financially privileged.

Whether subsidised by royalty of art of the common people, from an art historical perspective both earn equal attention. It was not even too long ago that this folk art, as a lesser known tradition, was recognised by scholars. This art of the common people gave academics insight of the social setting in which folk art evolved and finally got the recognition it deserved.

Measuring 30 x 22.5 x 2.2cm and weighting 1345gr, Indian Painting : The lesser-known traditions is a collection of papers following a conference, with the same title as this publication, held in Houston in 2008. The bundled articles give good insight in the traditional forms of folk art painting. Although compiled by academics it should most defiantly not scare off non-scholars. For laymen like myself the contents is more than accessible and rest assured there is no need to fear of getting ‘lost’ as the text is more than readable and richly illustrated.

What can be discovered?
Five of the twelve essays are dedicated to various aspects of south Indian painting on a variety of media such as paper, fabric and walls of buildings. From the Victoria and Albert Museum three important paintings from Andhra and Karnataka are discussed, together with two coastal 19th Andhra canopies illustrating the complete Ramayana.  An in-depth interpretation is given of a late 17th century ceiling painting in the Madurai temple of the wedding of Minakshi and Sundareshvara. The Ramayana paintings in the Mattancheri palace at Kochi (Kerala) is reassessed and placed in a wider cultural context.

Before the introduction of radio broadcasting , cinema flicks and television the unlettered were entertained and educated by storytelling showmen with props such as scrolls, painted cloth hangings, sets of paintings and wooden boxes painting with scenes, folk art in its purist form one could say. The remaining six essays cover these types of intangible cultural heritage that is threatened of getting lost. The traditions of storytelling is traced back with the help the earliest Buddhist materials up to a 19th century Bengal scroll; the relation between painting and performances of showmen  is analysed and placed in context; the stylistic  evolution of the lesser known tradition of Assamese book illustrations final gets the attention it hardly received up to now. More contemporary, in a way, is the paper  how current events such as the death of Indira Gandhi or the attach of the twin towers on 9/11 are themes used in modern day folk art pata paintings.  Finally the personal careers of a number of folk, tribal and  contemporary artists are examined.

Authors
Indian Painting : The lesser-known traditions is edited by Anna L. Dallapiccola, former professor of Indian Art at the South Asian Institute of Heidelberg University and Honorary Professor at Edinburgh University.  The contributing authors are :

• Crispin Branfoot  - Minakshi’s Wedding : Painting the Sacred Marriage in Early Modern Madurai
• Jyitindra Jain - Crossing Borders: Contemporary Folk and Tribal Artists in India
• Kavita Singh  - Transfixed by the Arrow of Time : Phad Paintings of Rajasthan; What’s New in Pata Painting
• Kirtana Thangavelu - Oral, Theatrical and Performative Dimensions of a Painted Scroll from Telengana
• Mary Beth Heston  - Reconsidering the Ramayana Murals: Paintings at the Mattancheri Palace
• Nina Sabnani  - The Kavad Phenomenon of Rajasthan : A lesser-known Folk Tradition
• Rosemary Crill - Aspects of South Indian Manuscript Paintings : Three Paintings in the Victoria and Albert Museum
• Anna L. Dallapiccola - The Ramayana : Two 19th-century Canopies from Coastal Andhra in the Victoria and Albert Museum
• Samiran Boruah - Of Gods, Heroes and Kings : Illustrated Manuscripts from Assam
• Sona Datta - Jamini Roy and the Folk Art Paradigm
• T. Richard Blurton - Painting with intent : History and Variety in an Indian Painting Tradition

Conclusion
‘Despite’ the provenances of the authors of Indian Painting : The lesser-known traditions have managed to present an accessible collection of essays which will most defiantly appeal to both to amateur and professional art historical academics as well as the novice art aficionado with an interest in Indian(folk).  A very fine piece of art historical literature that gives the lesser known Indian folk art the attention it deserves.