Banners of concern

Indian contemporary artists come together to use art as a medium of expression to begin a dialogue on social and political issues.

‘Intolerance’ was a word much debated, scrutinised and pondered over last year. And a key talking point was whether the rise in cases of violence, lynching and public ire was reflective of a marked rise in intolerance in our society. Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (Sahmat) recently organised an art exhibition asking top Indian artists to create small banner works that reflect their creative response to serious issues being faced by present day India.

Titled Avaaz Do!, the exhibition featured works by over 400 artists — curators, art teachers and members of the creative community from Mumbai and Delhi. “Art does not necessarily cause a change in the society, but it contributes to a dialogue on social and political issues through cultural means,” says Ram Rahman, curator of the show.

The idea was to create works that go beyond gallery walks and talks about current issues, shares Rahman, adding, “The artists were asked to use their creative expression to speak about the atmosphere which has been generated in India where writers were being murdered, people were being killed because of their food choices and against the kind of imposition of a monolithic cultural identity which stands against the diversity of beliefs and ideas that exist in India.”

The works were thought-provoking and creative, with the artists not holding back. “Artists have different ways of expressing ideas on current or political issues, some of which may not be very direct and obvious. Atul Dodiya uses mythology to make an image of the serpent Kaliya whom Krishna had to fight and kill in the river — the serpent in a sense is a symbol of oppression that the writers and artists were facing. Arpana Caur makes a soft cloth hanging with a pair of scissors on her banner that symbolise the cutting of our traditions and belief in a free society. My graphic work ‘Babri/Dadri’ talks of the similarity of the names and the kind of communal violence those names had come to stand for,” says Rahman.

The exhibition also displayed a range of ‘Postcards for Gandhi’, that aimed at celebrating Gandhi since 1994. Rahman states, “The Postcards to Gandhi project from 1994 was a response to the destruction of the Babri Masjid in December 1992, and the terrible communal violence which followed. The idea found its genesis from the postcard that Gandhi often used as the cheapest means of communication. Over a 100 artists have made these postcard-sized works responding to the ideals of a secular and just society that Gandhi had espoused. The Masjid demolition stood totally against those ideals and the project was a way for artists to raise their voice of conscience.”

Artist Hema Upadhyaya, whom we lost recently, also contributed for this exhibition. “Hema created a work just days before her tragic murder. The work is an image of herself with the face and eyes covered by tape, symbolising the suppression of voice. We also made a poster in tribute to her,” shares the curator.