Artists from India's hinterland are discovering how the Internet can earn them money and recognition beyond provincial fame.

Foot and mouth painter Ganesh Kumar lives in a tiny village in North Kerala. Though he lost his limbs to polio, he did not lose his spirit and taught himself to paint. But he always lacked the resource to step out of his village except for a few exhibitions.

Yet, his work is now being seen and assessed by the world because the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists decided to put up their members' works online.

Ganesh says, "Online exposure has definitely boosted sales. Earlier there were only exhibitions and local customer interactions. Nowadays I am able to interact with art lovers across the world and contact people interested in my work. Otherwise, this wouldn't have been possible, sitting here in my hamlet."

The experience has even made Ganesh Internet savvy.  He regularly interacts with friends and customers through email now.

Earlier, artisans from rural India needed an exhibition or a village 'mela' to sell their works. Many of these talented craftsmen ended up as victims of exploitation and they never realised the real value of their works.  But e-commerce is promising to change that.

Pune-based Crafts Bridge links backward artisans to faraway markets. Crafts Bridge works with Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India's GIVE foundation and some other NGOs to help these craftsmen explore global markets.

Crafts Bridge CEO Shibani Jain explains "We locate them from rural areas with the help of NGOs, buy their crafts and pay them back based on market demand and then sell these works ourselves on the Web through various online channels."

"The Web has brought a revolution of sorts in terms of customer interaction and IT application in promoting these talented artisans from underdeveloped areas," believes Shibani.

Jonathan Eoyang, an Internet publisher from the US, maintains digitalconsicousness.com. The site carries works of several painters from rural India. He describes his endeavour as "public database of contemporary art". Eoyang believes that it is also the desire to share their artistic vision that inspires these rural artists to go online.

He says, "Their work can be preserved and seen. They can receive wider recognition. Just by uploading digital photographs of his works and his contact information, an artist from an unknown Indian village can get a client all the way from United States. It is amazing."

Mumbai-based Prashant Shah is the man behind painternet.com. The site claims that 60 per cent of its painting collection is from artists of rural origin.

"We had to research for years to develop the site. It has a vast pool of artists of rural origin," claims Shah, a JJ School of Arts graduate. As an intermediate, he receives 25 per cent of the cost of a painting. Shah feels the Web acts as an unbiased marketer for talented artists and customers often go for the quality of the painting or the reputation of the painter.

To popularise the several artistic talents of Kerala and to introduce the state's different art forms to the cyber world, Qatar-based graphics designer Razi Rahman created the site kalakeralam.com. He says foreigners make good use of the site to know more about Kerala's fine arts, visual arts, music, theatre and handicrafts.

"The Web helps rural artists and artisans to share ideas with other artists from all parts of the world. They build relationships with art lovers," points out Rahman.

Delhi-based painter Vijendra Swaroop Vij is originally from a small village in Fatehpur. He says, "Artists from rural areas face a lot of problems in getting a proper platform to display their works. But with the Internet this has become very easy."

"Rural artists hardly get a chance to visit an art gallery to see different works. Now virtual galleries on the Web help them to see different works from different artists at the click of a mouse.

"Because of their online presence, my paintings are being viewed and accepted by people across the globe. Foreign contacts have been developed and many of my works were sold for a good price. I get appreciation through email for my work, something that was beyond my imagination," gushes Vij.

Till now, Vij has managed to sell four paintings online to clients abroad. Web sites through which his paintings are being sold normally charge him around 35 per cent of the sale amount.

"I incur less cost and get a good price. It is a cheap and effective. One can register with online galleries for exposure. I registered with Creative Garh in New Delhi that charges Rs 2,400 per annum and 20 per cent of the price of the painting sold," he claims.