A Censitive take on sexuality

The giggle that overpowered us during sex education class went a long way in changing our perceptions of sex. Avoiding the mocking stares of boys in biology class was easy, but watching the teacher stammer awkwardly through female puberty made an impact. Slowly a blush set in and hasn’t left our cheeks since What is it about sexuality and sexual growth that makes it obscene or anti-cultural to talk about Since when has one’s private bedroom become a topic of social interest

This is what ‘Being Censitive’ (pun on the words ‘censor’ and ‘sensitive’), an art project by Akshita Chandra, addresses. What began as a student project at Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bengaluru, turned into something else, even catching former diplomat and current MP Shashi Tharoor’s attention! Through the project, Akshita explores censorship in India on the grounds of obscenities, taking direct inspiration from the sculptures at Khajuraho Temple. “The premise of the project was to take a part of history, any history, and I had to ground it in the contemporary setting. My point of interest was the Khajuraho temple art,” she says. Having visited it multiple times, she was quite familiar with the temple. Strangely, only 15-20 per cent of the art there is erotic, while the other sections show animal motifs, war scenes and so on. “But, the erotic sculptures are what the temple is known for and yet, we do not consider it obscene because we see it in a sacred setting. I wanted to juxtapose this past with incidents from the present to create a dialogue on censorship and obscenity,” she explains.

A combination of illustration and paper craft, the juxtapositions are presented as a series of GIFs on her Tumblr page —the incident of couples in a private hotel being booked for public indecency are shown as nude images that pop out through paper ‘windows’.

Another picture address moral policing, while others take a jab at Section 377, sex education in the country and other topics. Being Censitive is dynamic and uses censorship to illustrate this form of control, but in a way that allows people to engage freely with it,” says Akshita. Take for example the image of nude women drawn in the likeness of Khajuraho sculptures. It explains the incident of lingerie-clad mannequins being banned in Mumbai for ‘insulting people’s sensibilities’. A thin strip of plastic interactively shows two sides of the debate.

“[Through this project] I want to initiate a healthy conversation about censorship. Based on my research of Khajuraho, I discovered that the reason the sculptures were on the outside of the temple was because they served an educational purpose. Not only was it sacred, it was a place where people gathered together, so it became easy to teach them.” And yet, she adds something as basic as sex education, which is supposed to be a part of our curriculum, is considered obscene. “We’re moving so fast as a society. But it’s important to know that it’s safe and okay to talk about such things. More than anything, it’s a personal choice,” the 21-year-old states.

She has thrown the idea of publishing it as a book, but isn’t sure if publishers will be willing because of the content. For now, she is glad that she could at least spur discussion on such a relevant topic.