Dalit History Month, a global, month-long celebration that honours the fighting spirit and resistance of Dalit, Bahujan, and Adivasi communities is observed in April every year.
Typically coinciding with the birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar – a leader against caste oppression – the month shines a light on the stories, struggles and achievements of historically marginalised communities.
Chennai-based NGO Neelam Arts Collective – founded by filmmaker Pa Ranjith – are marking the month with the Vaanam Art Festival, an annual celebration of Dalit culture rooted in social awareness foregrounded by artistic expression.
With events taking place across the city through April, Lalit Kala Akademi in Chennai was one of many venues that transformed into a hub of powerful narratives and creativity.
From April 12-18, The Whole Story, brought together 36 Dalit artists in a showcase of anti-caste thought and resilience across various mediums. Spanning installations and sculptures to paintings, digital prints, animation and engaging talks, the exhibit is an introspective but outward exploration of Dalit storytelling woven with vulnerability and dignity in equal parts.
Artist/filmmaker Prabakaran Swaminathan‘s Red River pays ode to the attack on tea plantation workers of Manjolai conceptualising heartwrenching emotion with a vivid creative approach. Similarly, multi-disciplinary artist Selvakumar‘s installation The Anatomy of Social Hierarchy represents how demands for equality is viewed as a threat, peeling back mundane moments to reveal the social hierarchies and insecurities that rest within.
Artist and illustrator Srujana Sridhar‘s vibrant digital print delves into the everyday struggles embedded into the anti-caste narratives by foregrounding stories, voices and lived experiences. While Multi-disciplinary artist Osheen Siva‘s vivid, bright tapestry taps into the intersection of caste, gender, race, class and disability, Natarajan Gangadaran’s mixed medium installation Mother Line weaves stories of tenderness and violence driven by how the world shapes the caste-driven identity and memories.
Other highlights at the exhibit included granite installation Memory Afloat, which captures celebration amidst struggles, wooden sculpture A Witness of Silence, with its thoughtful visual narrative and fibre glass installation Resilience in Resistance, which reflects the struggles between invisible bonds, external power and an irrepressible life force.
While the The Whole Story showcases pride in identity, the struggles and the empowerment of marginalised communities, photography exhibition Where the Songbird Resides, also taking place at Lalit Kala – in addition to two other venues from April 12-18 – captured textures of daily life, raising questions of intersectionality, instability and the politics of belonging all merging seamlessly into the practices and lives that pass us by everyday.
Photographer/documentary filmmaker/journalist Umesh Solanki‘s snapshots of agariyas in Gujarat and their days under the sweltering heat amidst endless stretches of salty clay is a raw yet vivid exploration of lives and bodies shaped by laborious existence. Meanwhile Deepti Muralibabu’s Kulam, is a visual exploration of how memory shapes identity across generations.
The exhibit spans a range of emotions from reflections of habitat on John Soren‘s collection Home to Suriya P.K‘s intricate documentation of celebration, dignity and inclusion at the core of pride walks in Chennai and Vignesh Pavithran‘s tender harkening to the fading communities in his documentation of Dhobi Khana, paying ode to those making their living amidst scents and textures of caustic soap and gritty dirt.
Other highlights included the simple nostalgia and tranquility of Hamayra Adiba’s Where Blue Birds Fly, capturing a personal sanctuary with a resonant universality and Shakya‘s striking encapsulation of the lives of Bahujan families in the drought-prone Marathwada region of Maharashtra on Sweet Dreams Are Made of This.
Whether in the artistic expression of The Whole Story or the grounded visual storytelling of Where the Songbird Resides, Lalit Kala Akademi wove impactful narratives of Dalit experiences, marking the intent of Dalit History Month with creativity, introspection and action.
(Images courtesy of Malvika Padin)
Did you happen to drop by Lalit Kala Akademi for their Dalit History Month events? Visit Lyrical Muse for more arts, photography and cultural coverage.
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