The Digital Canvas: Social Media Influence on Santali House Decoration and Wall Painting

Introduction

This essay explores the transformative impact of social media on the traditional Santali practice of house decoration and wall painting, employing visual anthropology as a methodological lens. Traditionally, Santali art forms have been deeply rooted in nature, with motifs reflecting the flora and fauna of their surroundings. However, the advent of social media has introduced a new visual lexicon, with emoticons and emojis increasingly replacing traditional nature-inspired motifs. This essay examines this shift, analyzing the socio-cultural factors driving this change and its implications for the preservation and evolution of Santali artistic traditions.

The Santal, one of India's largest tribal groups, possess a rich cultural heritage expressed through various art forms, including house decoration and wall painting. These practices, traditionally passed down through generations, serve not only as aesthetic expressions but also as symbolic representations of their worldview, beliefs, and connection to nature. However, the advent of social media has introduced new forms of visual communication, impacting traditional art forms and raising questions about cultural preservation and adaptation. This essay delves into this dynamic, examining how social media has influenced Santali house decoration and wall painting, with a particular focus on the replacement of nature-inspired motifs with social media emoticons and emojis.

Visual Anthropology: A Methodological Framework:

Visual anthropology, as a research methodology, provides a powerful tool for understanding the intersection of culture and visual representation. It involves the study of visual materials, such as photographs, films, and art objects, to gain insights into cultural practices, beliefs, and social structures. In this context, visual anthropology allows us to analyze Santali house decorations and wall paintings as visual texts that communicate cultural meanings and reflect social change. By examining the visual elements, motifs, and symbols used in these art forms, we can decipher the cultural narratives embedded within them and understand how they are being transformed by the influence of social media.

Traditional Santali House Decoration and Wall Painting:

Traditionally, Santali house decoration and wall painting have been integral to their cultural identity. The walls of their homes serve as canvases for artistic expression, with women, in particular, playing a central role in creating these visual narratives. The motifs used in these paintings are deeply rooted in nature, reflecting the Santali's close relationship with their environment. Flowers, leaves, trees, animals, and birds are common themes, symbolizing fertility, abundance, and the interconnectedness of all living beings. These motifs are not merely decorative; they carry symbolic meanings and often narrate stories from Santali folklore, mythology, and daily life.

Traditional motiefs in Santali village (photograph taken by Author in February 2025)

The colors used in traditional Santali wall paintings are also significant. Natural pigments, derived from plants, minerals, and earth, are used to create vibrant hues that reflect the Santali's connection to their natural surroundings. The process of creating these paintings is often a communal activity, with women gathering to share knowledge, skills, and stories. This collective engagement reinforces social bonds and strengthens cultural identity.

The Influence of Social Media:

The advent of social media has introduced new forms of visual communication, transforming the way people interact and express themselves. Emoticons and emojis, originally designed to convey emotions in digital communication, have now permeated various aspects of popular culture, including art and design. For the Santali, social media has opened up new avenues for communication and access to information. However, it has also led to the introduction of new visual elements into their traditional art forms.

Santali kids are growing up with smartphones in their villages. With increasing network connectivity, villagers are having smartphones and are exposed to social media.

 

The Shift in Motifs: From Nature to Emojis:

The replacement of nature-inspired motifs with social media emoticons and emojis in Santali wall paintings reflects a significant shift in cultural values and visual communication. Traditionally, Santali art served as a medium for expressing their connection to nature, their beliefs, and their cultural identity. The motifs used in their paintings were deeply symbolic, carrying rich cultural meanings and reflecting their worldview. However, the increasing influence of social media has led to the adoption of new visual symbols that are not rooted in their traditional culture.

Emoticons and emojis, while visually appealing and easily recognizable, lack the depth and cultural significance of traditional Santali motifs. They are often generic and lack the specific cultural context that made traditional Santali art so meaningful. The shift from nature-inspired motifs to emoticons and emojis reflects a broader trend of cultural homogenization, where globalized visual symbols are replacing local and culturally specific forms of expression.

A cartoon character taking a place in the walls of a Santal village (photo taken by the author in February 2025)

Use of trending social media cartoon imoji "Chin Tapak Dum Dum" in a Santali village wall (photo taken by the author in February 2025)

Socio-Cultural Factors Driving the Change:

Several socio-cultural factors contribute to the increasing popularity of emoticons and emojis in Santali wall paintings. Firstly, the younger generation of Santali, who have grown up with social media, are more familiar with these digital symbols than with traditional motifs. They find emoticons and emojis to be a more accessible and relatable form of visual communication. Secondly, social media has exposed the Santali to a wider range of visual styles and trends, including the use of emoticons and emojis in popular culture. This exposure has led to the adoption of these symbols in their own artistic expressions.

A Santali house wall with imojis as wall painting in Galudihi (photo taken by Pratyush Roy, a student of the author)

Thirdly, the use of emoticons and emojis can be seen as a way for the Santali to express their modernity and connect with the globalized world. By incorporating these digital symbols into their traditional art forms, they are signaling their participation in contemporary visual culture. Finally, the ease with which emoticons and emojis can be created and reproduced may also contribute to their popularity. Unlike traditional motifs, which require skill and knowledge to create, emoticons and emojis can be easily replicated, making them a convenient and accessible form of visual expression.

Implications for Santali Artistic Traditions:

The increasing use of emoticons and emojis in Santali wall paintings raises concerns about the preservation and evolution of their artistic traditions. While it is important for cultures to adapt and evolve, there is a risk that the adoption of globalized visual symbols may lead to the erosion of local and culturally specific forms of expression. The replacement of nature-inspired motifs with emoticons and emojis may result in the loss of valuable cultural knowledge and symbolic meanings embedded in traditional Santali art.

However, it is also important to recognize that cultures are dynamic and constantly evolving. The Santali have always adapted and incorporated new influences into their art forms. The use of emoticons and emojis can be seen as a continuation of this process, albeit in a new and digital context. It is possible that these new visual symbols may eventually become integrated into Santali artistic traditions, adding new layers of meaning and expression.

Conclusion:

The influence of social media on Santali house decoration and wall painting is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. The increasing use of emoticons and emojis in these traditional art forms reflects a shift in cultural values, visual communication, and the relationship between the Santali and the globalized world. While there are concerns about the preservation of traditional motifs and cultural meanings, it is also important to recognize the dynamic nature of culture and the potential for new forms of artistic expression to emerge.

Visual anthropology provides a valuable framework for understanding these changes, allowing us to analyze Santali house decorations and wall paintings as visual texts that communicate cultural narratives and reflect social change. By examining the visual elements, motifs, and symbols used in these art forms, we can gain insights into the Santali's evolving relationship with their cultural heritage and the impact of social media on their artistic traditions.

Further research is needed to fully understand the long-term implications of social media on Santali art and culture. It is important to document and preserve traditional Santali motifs and cultural knowledge, while also recognizing the creativity and adaptability of the Santali people. By engaging in open dialogue and collaboration with Santali communities, we can ensure that their artistic traditions continue to thrive and evolve in a way that respects their cultural heritage and embraces new forms of expression.

1. Visual Communication & How it has Impacted Today's Society | IIAD

www.iiad.edu.in

2. The Evolution of Emojis: From Texting to App Design - Universal Stream Solution

www.universalstreamsolution.com

Ethnocentric bias, starvation deaths and vanishing natives

People can die because of malnutrition, tuberculosis, fever and pneumonia, but they can never die of starvation. A recent report of starvation deaths in Birbhum triggers controversy that government and other key players have found hard to dodge. At least 19 tribal people have died because of starvation. There are several sporadic incidents of such deaths that go unnoticed. The question that becomes important is a historical one. The large scale starvation deaths occurred during 1942-43 do not report much death of tribal population of the state. The starvation death among tribal population while seen historically is a much recent phenomenon. What changes have taken place in last 70 years? More crucially it is important to explore what changes have taken place in last 20 years that have radically altered the tribal ways of life?

Post neo-liberal India sees lands being classified as barren, one to multi crop land, land having mining potentials and so on. Similarly forest policies kept displacing tribal access to the forest. Forest trees are replaced by eucalyptus and others adding noting to daily life of the people who depend heavily on the forest. Furthermore large scale displacements, often induced by development  have continued.

While a land which is seen as barren is actually used for cattle grazing, cultivating wild and high calorie cereals for local consumption, collection of tribal medicines. These lands are then taken for either developing connectivity or stone mining or much recently for industrialisation. The land grab under which tribal people are going through for last three decades are unprecedented.  

Case - I: dam construction and a close call 

The place is known as Mukutmanipur where thousands of families were displaced because of the construction of a river dam which is supposed to irrigate parts of Bardhaman, Bankura and Paschim Medinipur. My two seasons of fieldwork reveals that the impact of the dam construction is still quite detrimental. Apart from the loss of their homes and families who are now resettled far off, the neighboring villages have lost their grazing land and valuable forest resources on which they used to depend. Now the alternative economic pursuit is to work as a hotel boy in several hotels developed surrounding the mukutmanipur lake. Furthermore, the nature of the jungle is transformed and people can no longer depend on the forest resources which used to provide vital nutrients. The result is large-scale migration of men folk to neighbouring urban centres. If the neighbouring urban centres would have been far off many of the existing family members would have died.

Derivations:

Displacement leaves long term effects and undermines local and micro value orientations.

Policies of development usually underestimates existing man and other resource relationships

Case - II: piggery project and child malnutrition

 What happens when government decides to do something for the people. It usually happens like this.

step - I something clicks in the mind of a minister or IAS or the like in one fine morning

Step - II S/he prepares the plan over cups of high-tea sessions

Step - III An expert committee is formed and the project is implemented with the help of local agencies including NGOs.

No one even asks or seeks to explore the feasibility of the project. Once in  one of my fieldworks in Manipur it is seen that after the implementation of piggery development project child malnutrition become extremely high. The assessment team populated by anthropologists finds that because of high cash value of the piggery project people have stopped cultivating wild maize and other cereals. In consequence because of the lack of fodder which used to come from the stems of those wild cereals people have sold off their goats and cows. As a result children started to suffer from mal-nutrition triggered by low milk intake. 

Derivations:

Long-term effects are often undermined

Possible consequences of any initiatives are not properly addressed.  

Case - III: barren land and a halted industrialisation  

As already discussed barren land with good connectivity is an indistralist's gold mine. Therefore, Jindal Steel Works with the help of GoWB started their JSW project in Salboni on a barren land. It completely undermined the nature of existing attachments of the neighbouring tribal people with the land. With the construction of Jindal walls they do not have a place to collect fuel wood, roots and tubers that used to be an integral part of their daily food intake. There is no land for grazing of animals. They have even  lost the place to do open defecation. 

Derivations: 

Understanding of the natural resources are never done from the persepctives of the people who depend on these resources.

Value judgement of any resource depends on perspectives and policies lack the perspectives of the people who tend to depend on those resources

Case - IV: Maoists and armed forces

In another long term fieldwork which continued for three consecutive seasons in several regions of Paschim Medinipur I have seen that people are systematically being denied from the resources on which they have historically depended. While in pre 2011 election Maoist violence have occupied the news headlines people's everyday lives have largely been unseen. The most severely affected people were the tribal. They could not go into the forest because of the fear of maoists who would see them as police linkmen and they could not come out of the jungle because of the fear that police would see them as a maoist sympathasier. The consequence have been devastating. Because of frequent bullet exchanges cultivation was virtually stopped people have starved, if not have died.  

Derivations:

Policies and sometimes armed ideological conflicts tends to undermine people for whom the fight take place.

The accumulations:  

One of the anthropological cornerstones have been the idea of cultural relativism. Although hotly debated, whether or not we should observe cultural relativist stance there is a need to make policies free of ethnocentric bias to the extent possible. Often we find people saying tribal and natives eat rats, snakes, insects and ant larvae because of the paucity of food. There should be policies to feed them for which we need their resources. This is an utter lie. Tribal people eat those items because they consider those as their foods and not alternatives to chicken/mutton or rice and wheat. We have continually damaged their resources. We have transformed their grazing lands to mining grounds, stone crushing factories and water reserviors. We have transformed their forests into bunch of eucalyptus trees which do not yield anything but fuel woods. We never try to explore the systematic relationship between tribal and their habitat. Sadly, anthropologists and other social scientists including activists who do understand the process are either sidelined by the policy makers or are too romantically involved in so called "going native". Instead we see site for industrialisation in their barren lands, we tend to calculate profit and loss from the land yield according to our mode of calculations. 

Now the question is how long are we going to prepare policies that has nothing to do with the natives? The answer however, is known, it is INDEFINITELY. 

An Afternoon with the Hunters

Kaleidoscope was making his yearly trip to the field, often a romantically described native place to interact and gather social experience to be transformed into anthropological knowledge. Kaleidoscope had to leave his comfortable AC, PC, internet to adopt weak mobile network, unfiltered water, stinking bed, mosquito bites and miles of walk. Kaleidoscope also had the camera, a notebook, a GPS, an energetic bunch of students, loads of field reports to be corrected and a freedom to go anywhere and everywhere. Kaleidoscope enjoyed every bit of it. Took photos and after a while left the place anthropologists call field.

Among several experiences which Kaleidoscope had this year's visit is a permission to accompany a bunch of young stars in hunting.

Not an ordinary day:

Kaleidoscope was excited with the permission he had from the village headman - Laya to accompany a bunch of young adults with whom Kaleidoscope already had good deal of interaction. So on the day Kaleidoscope took his camera, and started roaming around the nearby jungle.

National Geographic Scenes:

Kaleidoscope being an admirer of National Geographic, Discovery and Animal Planet channels, and also having little exposure to the villages of the region did not expect anything dramatic. Nothing dramatic happened, therefore, readers must not expect that the story will thrill them in a sense those channels do. 

However, at first Kaleidoscope accompanied them to the near by forest surrounding the hillock popularly known as Baroghutu Pahar. It was difficult for kaleidoscope to make up the speed difference with his weak lung that often requires puffs of Asthalin and Seroflo. However, the village boys did not leave him. 

Portion of the Jungle pathway

Portion of the Baroghutu Pahar

Hunting implements:

They were carrying a long bamboo shaft, Gulti, a couple of clubs and loads of small stones. The clubs were useful to hit and injure rabbits and other smaller animals including rodents were manageable with the bamboo shaft and Gulti.

The missed opportunities and hunts:

While they climbed the baroghutu hills a rabbit was seen... before Kaleidoscope could see the animal had jumped away. The entire group explored the the hills region for three hours without results. Kaleidoscope was exhausted and had already consumed half of the water he had in his small bag. The group, headed by a tall and relatively experienced Moresh, got together for a quick meeting. They made a change in plan and went towards the farmlands. 

Moresh watching his young guns in action 

In the farm land they started to insert the long bamboo in the rodent's holes. With application of water and constant insertion of bamboo a few rodents came out. They quickly took shelter towards the trees. The young members of the group quickly climbed up through the trees and tried to catch them. From the ground the rest of the group constantly kept throwing small stones with gulti. After about an hour, they injured one of the rodents and caught it. They made several other catches in the bamboo bushes. Kaleidoscope was amazed by the skills that these little fellows have in climbing up the bamboo bushes without getting themselves injured by the small bamboo branches that acted like spikes.

In the end they could catch a dozen of rodents... 

Kaleidoscope came back, exhausted knowing that the group will make similar efforts tomorrow... perhaps everyday when Kaleidoscope will be gaining more weight and loosing fitness even more.

The results...