Frames of Struggle: Tracing a Movement

News of incidents of sexual assault and other forms of violence hit us on a daily basis – rape, dowry murders, acid attacks and sexual harassment. Do the text and visuals perhaps evoke horror, anger or even frustration at the impunity with which these crimes against women are repeated, with justice hardly ever in sight?

Have you ever wondered how these crimes even began to be thought of as crimes in the first place?

The Sasken Multimedia Gallery at the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) is hosting a series of digital stories showcasing the campaigns of the women’s movement as depicted through posters. The first digital story examines key issues raised by the autonomous women’s movement in India from the 1980s onwards, beginning with posters from the 1980s, centred on rape, in response to a nationwide movement against the custodial rape of Mathura, a young Adivasi girl.

The posters reflect the broader discourse of the time, which included dowry murder, domestic violence, and the articulation of patriarchy as an overarching system of oppression. Early posters embody raw, unrefined artistic styles, while later mass-produced ones reflect a more polished aesthetic, associated with NGOs and civil society campaigns, mirroring the shifting nature of people’s movements in post-liberalised India. The digital story also features posters on child abuse, human trafficking, acid attacks, and witch-hunting, marking them as distinct causes taken up by the women’s movement, many of which resulted in major changes in policy and law. In depicting the power of the collective, some posters showcase articulations of solidarity and hope that characterised resistance during the movement.

The posters have been curated from the Poster Women archive launched in 2005 by Zubaan, an independent feminist publishing house and NGO based in New Delhi. This is the first of a series of digital stories on display at the Sasken Multimedia Gallery, along with associated programmes presented by MAP in collaboration with Zubaan as part of our joint effort to activate the Poster Women archive.

As part of this programme series, we will be hosting:

Walkthrough: Frames of Struggle: Tracing a Movement
Venue: Sasken Multimedia Gallery, 1st Floor, Museum of Art & Photography
Date & Time: December 14, 04:00 pm – 04:30 pm

Join us for a walkthrough of the first digital story launched as part of this collaboration with Urvashi Butalia, Founder of Zubaan and Journalist, Laxmi Murthy.

Panel Discussion: Posters As Record: Understanding the Women’s Movement through its Visuals
Venue: Mazumdar-Shaw Auditorium, 1st Floor, Museum of Art & Photography
Date & Time: December 14, 05:00 pm – 06:00 pm

This conversation examines posters as historical documents, situating them within their specific contexts of production, circulation, and visual communication to trace key milestones in India’s women’s movement. By understanding these posters as part of ongoing negotiations and diverse formulations of women’s issues, the discussion unpacks their significance in shaping public discourse, addressing various forms of violence against women, and influencing related legislation in the country. Notions of punishment and justice that have been vital to feminist campaigns will also be discussed in light of recent incidents of sexual violence.

Panelists:

– Urvashi Butalia co-founded India’s first feminist publishing house, Kali for Women in 1984 and now runs Zubaan, another feminist imprint.

– Laxmi Murthy is a journalist and researcher based in Bangalore. She has been associated with the autonomous women’s movement since 1985.

– Yukti Saumya is co-founder of the Centre for Restoration, a non-profit organisation working to mitigate gender-based violence in Indian schools and colleges.

Moderator:

– Bidisha Mahanta is the Head of Programmes at Zubaan.

Workshop: Poster Women: A Making Workshop
Venue: HDFC Learning Centre, Lower Ground Floor, Museum of Art & Photography
Time and Date: December 15, 10:00 am – 01:00 pm

Join us for a workshop where we explore the visualisation of feminist movements across the world through posters, followed by a making session where we guide each other in crafting them—collages, montages, and patchworks of colour and imagery that help communicate the feminist issues of our times.

Facilitated by Maraa Collective, this workshop invites early-career image-makers, illustrators, artists, and photographers who employ a feminist lens in their practice and wish to convene to share thoughts and ideas. Together, participants will contribute to a shared understanding and repository of motifs, techniques, and knowledge surrounding feminist imagery and movements, fostering meaningful exchange.

This programme is presented in conjunction with MAP’s permanent exhibition VISIBLE/INVISIBLE: Representation of Women in Art through the MAP Collection.