Her motifs tell a tale. They are testaments of personal trials and social change.

Meet national award winning artist Nirmala Devi (68) who is at present in Ranchi to take part in a folk, tribal and traditional camp that kicked off at Ram Dayal Munda Kala Bhavan in Hotwar on Wednesday.

Organised jointly by Lalit Kala Academy in Bhubaneswar and the state art, culture and youth affairs department, 12 artists from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh will be stationed in the capital till Sunday. All of them will be showcasing tribal art works of their respective states/districts.

A resident of Bhusra in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar, Nirmala Devi has not only kept alive Sujani artwork through her NGO Bhusra Mahila Vikas Samiti, but has also made it popular in urban markets across India. Her artwork has even travelled to London and the US when she had participated in an exhibition in 2003.

Sujani is a traditional folk art form of Bihar. At the time of childbirth, patches of different coloured cloth are sewn together to make a quilt called Sujani. “Now, Sujani artwork finds space in wall hangings, kurtis, saris,” said Nirmala Devi.

She added that after winning the national award in 2004, orders started pouring in from outside Bihar. “Last year, I had got bulk orders from FabIndia to design 2,200 kurtis,” she added.

Ramakrishna Vedala, the regional secretary of Lalit Kala Academy and camp co-ordinator, said: “Our purpose is to introduce such artwork to the public. Each artists will be paid Rs 15,000 as stipend.”