Bhuri Bai was born in Pittor, Moti Bavdi, Jhabua in 1970. An innately creative child, it was left to her to decorate her home’s wall for special occasions. Be them left over colours from decorating cows after Diwali or cotton tree twigs found around her village, Bhuri bai never let the lack of resources hinder her creative calling. Even as a child she made her own dyes and colours from plants and flowers she found in the jungles of Jhabua or around her village.
Having seen her hard days, living under plastic covers, working as labour at farms, bidi factories, or construction sites Bhuri Bai has a pride for all she does and remembers the tough days as some of her most happy and satisfying. It was as a construction worker at Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal that the then Director Jay Swaminathan Jagdish discovered her talent for Bhil Adivasi Art, her indigenous arts practice. Although Bhuri Bai never gauged the value of her art in those days, it was her inner calling that kept her creative practice alive.
Jagdish Swaminathan was instrumental in establishing Bhuri Bai as artist and published her work in newspapers. In due course she has won many awards like Madhya Pradesh Gaurav Samman, Devi Aheelya Samman, Shikr Samman and the Rani Durgawati Rashtriya Samman. Her work is displayed at the Bharat Bhavan, Manav Sangrahalaya and in noteworthy collections in Mumbai, Delhi, Kerala and she has exhibited her work abroad as well. The artist lives and works in Bhopal.
