Students' Biennale 2021: Objects of Discontent: A Dalit Intervention
Artists: Mucharla Madhukar and Swathi Bheemani. Curated by Manoj Vyloor.
Fragments of a Catastrophe (I) Fragments of a Catastrophe (I) (Installation view) by Swathi BheemaniKochi-Muziris Biennale
Black is the colour of dissent for Swathi.
Fragments of a Catastrophe (I) Fragments of a Catastrophe (I)(detail) by Swathi BheemaniKochi-Muziris Biennale
She expresses unquenched anger towards the harsh realities that the dalit community lives in.
Fragments of a Catastrophe (I) Fragments of a Catastrophe (I)(detail - 3) by Swathi BheemaniKochi-Muziris Biennale
She feels they are constantly subjugated in all aspects of societal living – money, politics and living conditions.
Fragments of a Catastrophe (I) Fragments of a Catastrophe (I)(detail - 5) by Swathi BheemaniKochi-Muziris Biennale
Denial has been a fact that stands tall between them and their rights for all of the time.
Fragments of a Catastrophe (I) Fragments of a Catastrophe (I)(detail - 8 ) by Swathi BheemaniKochi-Muziris Biennale
While everything around their perimeter has improved, developed and advanced, they were left untouched.
Fragments of a Catastrophe (II) Fragments of a Catastrophe (II) (detail - 3) by Swathi BheemaniKochi-Muziris Biennale
With the nation-wide lockdown, difficulties were exacerbated for women and children of their community.
Fragments of a Catastrophe (II) Fragments of a Catastrophe (II) (detail - 4) by Swathi BheemaniKochi-Muziris Biennale
Swathi has used charcoal and burnt wood to carve shapes and figures that are the remainders of the burnt bodies and homes.
Fragments of a Catastrophe (I) Fragments of a Catastrophe (I)(detail - 6) by Swathi BheemaniKochi-Muziris Biennale
The ‘fragments’ are a ghastly representation of what exists for some but is often overlooked by others.
Plight in the Pandemic Times (II) Plight in the Pandemic Times (II) (Installation View) by Mucharla MadhukarKochi-Muziris Biennale
Madhukar cuts, stitches, even collages together leather to make forms that speak of their physical pain and suffering inflicted by the politically dominant mass.
Plight in the Pandemic Times (II) Plight in the Pandemic Times (II)(detail - 1) by Mucharla MadhukarKochi-Muziris Biennale
With the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the eventual lockdown, a large fraction of migrant labourers were stalled at different parts of the country, completely devoid of job and wages.
Plight in the Pandemic Times (II) Plight in the Pandemic Times (II)(detail - 2) by Mucharla MadhukarKochi-Muziris Biennale
The effects of this would reflect in the distant villages where their families too suffered the pain.
Plight in the Pandemic Times (II) Plight in the Pandemic Times (II)(detail - 3) by Mucharla MadhukarKochi-Muziris Biennale
Thorns, footmarks, the torn and stitched leather drum et al...
Plight in the Pandemic Times (II) Plight in the Pandemic Times (II)(detail - 4 ) by Mucharla MadhukarKochi-Muziris Biennale
..indicate deep-felt anguish registered for the times to come.
The Students’ Biennale seeks to complement and strengthen the fine arts education system in India and is the largest educational initiative of the Kochi Biennale Foundation. The fourth edition was led by a team of five artists and art educators – Adip Dutta, Archana Hande, Manoj Vyloor, Suresh K Nair and Vasudha Thozhur, and featured 314 student artists from over 62 education institutions across India to produce approximately 45 projects.
Compiled and Edited by Mala Yamey
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