10. Trends in the Gond Aesthetics and Narrative Styles in Graphic Novels

This paper attempts to provide an insight into the trends in the Gond narrative styles and the interpretation of Gond elements in recent graphic novels and publications. Gond art has evolved a long way from the floor ‘digna’ paintings in tribal settlements to paper and canvas paintings in books and galleries. In recent times, contemporary artists have been experimenting with different motifs, styles and representations, iconography, mediums and colours—both traditional and modern. However, very little is talked about this changing nature of Gond aesthetics in books and paintings that has evolved to incorporate contemporary subjects. The purpose of this paper is to review and analyse the Gond aesthetics of five such graphic novels and publications to get an idea of the changes and experimentations that occurred in relation to the traditional Gond painting.