Artists and siblings from the Warli community of Western India, Mayur and Tushar Vayeda practise Warli art, adapting its form, vocabulary and medium for the contemporary audience. The brothers were born in Ganjad in Thane district, Maharashtra, into a family that emphasised education and hence they were sent for higher education to Mumbai. Mayur received his bachelors and masters in Management Studies in 2013 and 2017, respectively, from the University of Mumbai. Tushar finished his studies in Animation and Multimedia at the University of Mumbai in 2014.

The brothers were introduced to Warli art in their childhood by their aunt, Meenakshi Vayeda, a skilled artist. They spent summers with her and went to local art camps. They started practising art from 2011 onwards, along with Vikas Bongya, who assists them. The brothers have had a sustained practice through the years, having worked on collaborative international projects and artist residencies alongside exhibiting their work and teaching Warli art. In their practice of Warli, they have incorporated narratives, both in style and content. Additionally, moving beyond traditional Warli wall painting has enabled experimentation for the duo, since the medium of paper and canvas allows them to erase, redo and test their motifs and figures. Preserving distinctive elements of Warli painting, their work adds to its visual idiom through oral histories of their community, ritual practices, elements of modern life, cultural legends, myths and folklore.

In 2015, the brothers worked with a group of Japanese artists – as part of the Noco Project on sustainable housing – using traditional Warli artwork and Japanese design. Following this, they were invited to participate at the Wall Art Festiwal in Inawashiro, Fukushima in 2016. They held a residency at the Mithila Museum, Japan in 2017, after which they worked on a project at the Aomori Museum of Art. In 2018, Mayur attended the Awashima Art Residency. In 2019, Mayur and Tushar, along with Bongya, were residents on Awashima island, during which they participated at the Setouchi Triennale. They collaborated with the Japanese artist Maki Ohkojima on a cave mural that narrated the story of Warli art’s origin – from the cave paintings of Bhimbetka.

The brothers have also been a part of Inde au Manoir de la ville de Martigny, Switzerland (2018); Pentures Warly de l’Inde at Espace d’art Fl, France (2018); and Earth Art Project, Ladakh (2017). In 2019, they did a public art project in collaboration with Teamwork Arts and HK Walls in Hong Kong. Their work is part of collections of Galerie Herve Perdriolle, Paris, Espace d’art, Paris, Mithila Museum, Japan, Tsomoriri Collection, Japan and Ojas Art Gallery, Delhi. Their illustrated book, The Deep, written in collaboration with Gita Wolf, was published by Tara Books in 2020.

At the time of writing, the artists live and work in Ganjad, Maharashtra.