Lens - Art as Commentator
Lens - Art as Commentator

Imagination is the supreme disrupter. Whether through photography, painting, film, music, dance, or other mediums, art provides a space for our collective imagination to take shape. This allows art on the one hand to play an essential role in illuminating, challenging and critiquing injustices, and on the other to also serve as a tool of propaganda.

Art is a key influencer: constantly shaping our perceptions of the world. Protesting policy, war or social norms, artists challenge the status quo and can often give voice to the voiceless and the silent. While some artists intentionally create works that respond to socio-political circumstances, other works may unintentionally speak to these ideas due to their histories or the context they’re viewed in. Whether subtle or forceful, art provides us with points of reflection, probing us to reexamine our understanding of the world and ourselves in it.

At the centre is a woman whose face isn’t visible as it is completely covered by her long hair. A single flower is tucked behind her ear. She wears a dress, carries a small handbag in one hand and rests the other on a tall wooden table in front of her.
Anoli Perera, I Let My Hair Loose: Protest Series IV, Archival pigment print, 2010-2011
A woman in a dress sits cross legged on a carpet. Behind her are two saree-clad women seated on chairs, with their hair completely covering their faces.
Anoli Perera, I Let My Hair Loose: Protest Series I, Archival pigment print, 2010-2011
At the centre is a woman whose face isn’t visible as it is completely covered by her long hair. A single flower is tucked behind her ear. She wears a dress, carries a small handbag in one hand and rests the other on a tall wooden table in front of her.
Anoli Perera, I Let My Hair Loose: Protest Series IV, Archival pigment print, 2010-2011
A woman in a dress sits cross legged on a carpet. Behind her are two saree-clad women seated on chairs, with their hair completely covering their faces.
Anoli Perera, I Let My Hair Loose: Protest Series I, Archival pigment print, 2010-2011

Anoli Perera is an artist who works with multiple mediums, often engaging with themes relating to women’s issues, history, identity and colonialism. In this photo-performative series, inspired by vintage photographs, she brings to the surface the politics of the ‘gaze’ by presenting women with their faces covered by hair. This act of defiance prevents us from looking at the sitters and causes us to reflect on the symbolism of hair. Hair is seen traditionally as a mark of beauty in women, but also—when out of place or unruly—as a sign of hysterical, uncontrollable behaviour, as a threat that reflects the dangers of unstable, untamed women.

Snow

My work has everything to do with the social predicament. It is easy to live through one’s life being unconscious of one’s context of existence. The very moment this existence is revealed, once you go beyond the illusions and its anesthetizing and doping images of representations, you are confronted with the maze of contracts and contradictions of that existence.
– Anoli Perera

Page one of a comic strip titled 'I Let My Hair Loose'. Illustrated in black and white with the title in colour. A girl with her hair in a long braid is sitting on a swing, with grass around. She says, “The power I have now is the best version of myself I can ever be. I am not afraid of being myself!” A woman in a saree with her hair loose approaches the girl. Her left arm has bangles and is slightly raised. She says,”There is good news. We have found a wealthy family. They say you are the most beautiful of all who wanted to marry him.” The girl asks with a confused expression, “They chose me because of my beauty? Will they even allow me to be myself? What if I don’t turn out to be the girl they need?”
Page two of a comic strip titled 'I Let My Hair Loose'. Illustrated in black and white. The saree-clad woman puts her hand on the girl’s shoulder and says,”Awh, this is the harsh reality of the world child. Free before marriage, trapped in a cage after. We just aren’t allowed to be independent. Try once?” The girl looks apprehensive as she says,”Ok-ok mother. I’ll t-try.” The bottom half of the page shows three men. First, a moustachioed man with square spectacles, wearing a striped shirt. He says,”Their daughter is the epitome of beauty. Hope she does the housework too.” Second, a turbaned man with a moustache, wearing a shirt with two pockets, who says,” My daughter can do everything. She’s been taught housework since she was 7.” And finally,a younger looking man, also with a moustache, who smiles as he says,” I can’t wait to brag to my friends about my beautiful wife.”
Page three of a comic strip titled 'I Let My Hair Loose'. Illustrated in black and white with the last panel featuring colour like the title in the first page. The saree-clad woman stands by a door. Her face is covered with her hair. She asks, “Our daughter is ready. Should I bring her?” The man with square spectacles puts his arm around the younger man. They are both smiling as the older man says, “Absolutely! We are so excited to meet her! Right son? The girl appears wearing a red saree with a yellow blouse. Her hair completely covers her face. The three men look surprised that both women have their hair in front of their face. There is a question mark and an exclamation point in the speech bubble above them.”

What makes art a form of protest?

What are the stories we seek to rewrite?

How can art present the familiar in a new light?

The back view of three people – a woman, a man and a girl standing between them – all looking into a mirror. The photograph is edited such that only the girl’s reflection is seen in the mirror.

At times, we feel alone. As if no one sees us and no one is with us, but in reality, our family and friends are always with us. It is we who are unable to locate them. The reflection I see contains only me, but in reality, one can see that my parents are with me.

An attempt to introduce a new and different perspective of viewing race and religion using two miniature sculptures my family had been gifted. I have tried to create a setting such that the mini-angel appears to be praying to the tribal woman of colour.

A black and white photograph in which a white porcelain doll, shaped like an angel, faces a black figurine with headdress and jewellery.

A four-year collaborative project by Clare Arni and Pushpamala N, Native Women of South India: Manners and Customs probed the history of photography as an ethnographic tool and the ‘typology’ of representation of women in popular culture. By recreating well-known and iconic images through photo-performance and also deconstructing them at the same time, it plays with ideas of subject and object, photographer and sitter, as well as the real and the staged. This image recreated in the style of a 19th century ethnographic portrait raises several questions, for instance, about power, privilege, colonialism and racism.

In the centre, a woman with hair curled in large ringlets looks straight ahead. From the right, a hand emerges holding a measuring device next to her face.
Clare Arni & Pushpamala N, Toda H-26, Sepia-toned silver gelatin print, 2000-2004
Snow

People engage imaginatively with the work and come up with very interesting interpretations, which add further layers of complexity...I think that it is the audience that completes the work of art.
– Pushpamala N

Artists have long used satire and ridicule to highlight social, political and everyday issues. Humour and irony often speak to deeper truths that may not be visible on the surface, distilling them and conveying them to us in ways that are not only easy to understand but also more palatable because we take pleasure in the joke – that's what makes them such powerful tools. A key member of the satirist tradition in the Indian context is modernist artist, Gaganendranath Tagore, whose caricatures form a scathing study of the hypocrisies of Hindu orthodoxy, and the conceits of the Bengali babu and his attempts to ape the European class.

A man in a suit, dripping in sweat, pats his forehead with a handkerchief. In his other hand he carries a cane, and a hat from which sweat seems to be pouring out. His sweat is pooling in puddles on the ground. Next to him is a duffel bag and in the background is a policeman. At the bottom right of the picture is text in Bengali which reads “Sarbanger Ashrupaat”. Written in English below this is, “By the sweat of my brow I tried to be mistaken for a Saheb but still that man calls me Baboo.”
Gaganendranath Tagore, By the sweat of my brow, Lithograph on paper, 1917
A seated man, with a cigarette in his mouth, attempts to don pants over his dhoti (a traditional male Indian garment). To his side is an open suitcase. A policeman peers in from a doorway in the corner behind. On the bottom is text in Bengali which reads “Rupantar” and English reading “Metamorphosis. The line below reads ”Don’t disturb me now, I am about to become a Sab.”
Gaganendranath Tagore, Metamorphosis, Lithograph on paper, 1917
A man in a suit, dripping in sweat, pats his forehead with a handkerchief. In his other hand he carries a cane, and a hat from which sweat seems to be pouring out. His sweat is pooling in puddles on the ground. Next to him is a duffel bag and in the background is a policeman. At the bottom right of the picture is text in Bengali which reads “Sarbanger Ashrupaat”. Written in English below this is, “By the sweat of my brow I tried to be mistaken for a Saheb but still that man calls me Baboo.”
Gaganendranath Tagore, By the sweat of my brow, Lithograph on paper, 1917
A seated man, with a cigarette in his mouth, attempts to don pants over his dhoti (a traditional male Indian garment). To his side is an open suitcase. A policeman peers in from a doorway in the corner behind. On the bottom is text in Bengali which reads “Rupantar” and English reading “Metamorphosis. The line below reads ”Don’t disturb me now, I am about to become a Sab.”
Gaganendranath Tagore, Metamorphosis, Lithograph on paper, 1917
Snow

When deformities grow unchecked, but are cherished by blind habit, it becomes the duty of the artist to show that they are ugly and vulgar and therefore abnormal.
– Gaganendranath Tagore

Why should art seek to dismantle the world as we know it?

How can it speak to different and new contexts or challenges?

Is there more than one way to read an image?

An animation of Gaganendranath Tagore’s artwork “Metamorphosis”. A seated man with a cigarette in his mouth, attempts to don pants over his dhoti (a traditional male Indian garment). A policeman peers in from a doorway in the corner behind and demands, “What on earth are you doing!” To which the man responds, “Don’t disturb me, I’m about to become a saab”. Text appears at the bottom reading “Some are born in the right body, some have to fight for it.”

I feel this image should be put in the museum, solely because of the various ways in which it can be interpreted. I came up with around five explanations for it. I feel like art is something that interests people, makes them think and allows their creativity to come into use, and that's what the image did for me.

Advertisements play a major role in shaping our society and the ways in which we see, think, understand and act. They mould both our perceptions of ourselves and our aspirations of who we want to be. From earlier popular print forms to today's social media campaigns, they have always had the ability to operate on multiple levels: from the economic and sociopolitical to the ideological and cultural. This makes them potent vehicles to deliver social and political agendas as well as promote other topical and relevant issues; and consequently enables them to exert a remarkable influence on our politics, social values, lifestyles and worldviews.

A drawing shows three Caucasian women sitting around a wooden table with teacups on it. An Indian man, wearing a white uniform and a white turban, carries a tray with a teapot and stands behind them. A piano and a large plant are seen in the background. On the top are the words, “Comes to you with garden freshness, Brooke Bond tea.”
Advert for Brooke Bond Tea (Brooke Bond & Co, England), Offset print, 1930
Illustration of two women in sweaters holding blue teacups and standing in front of a table with an orange teapot, white plates and a red box with the words “Merry Tea”. The woman on the left wearing a grey sweater, has a speech bubble above her which says “Wow Meri tea”. The woman on the right wearing a blue sweater has a speech bubble which says in Hindi “Meri aur Teri” (meaning, mine and yours).

How does art make us re-examine and reflect upon the world?

What are the histories that it brings to life?

What are the forgotten stories that lie behind its surface?

On the top is an illustrated map of India with the words “India chooses best” written in black and bold above it. Testimonials from users across the country are linked to regions highlighted on the map. There is an illustrated Pears soap bar at the bottom left. At the bottom right is promotional text, below which “Pears Soap” is written in a stylistic font in red.
Advert for Pears Soap (A & F Pears Ltd, Engalnd), Offset print, 1932
A collage poster titled “Oldest Soap in the world”, below which is the smaller subtitle “King of soaps.” Below the titles, on the right is a soap with a pink cover, while on the left is textual information over a beige block. At the bottom is a pink Pear’s deodorant stick and cap on the right, and on the left a soap bar with the words “A &F Pears’s transparent Glycerine Soap” written on it’s turquoise cover. The background features cutouts of paper.

Many people think Pears is an Indian brand, but in reality, it isn't. Many people were surprised when I told them about Pears' history. This shows many people don't know about its history...In order to make the people aware of the history of Pears soap, we decided to make a poster with the pictures of its old products found from a reference.

Illustrated at the top are four Caucasian children and a saree-clad Indian woman holding hands in a line and smiling. Below this on the right is promotional text, and on the left are illustrations of Wright’s coal tar soaps, shaving soap and shampoo powder. “The safe soap for children” and “Wright's coal tar soap” are emphasised stylistically in bold and blue in the poster.
Advert for Wright's Coal Tar Soap (T S R Gillett Ltd, Bombay), Offset print, 1930

Wright's Coal Tar Soap was a popular brand of domestic soap for over 150 years, and its descendant, Wright’s Traditional Soap, is still available in supermarkets and pharmacies around the world. The original product was created in 1860 by William Valentine Wright from "liquor carbonis detergens," a liquid by-product of the coal distillation process that was turned into an antiseptic soap to cure skin problems.

There is a certain irony to the situation...The picture itself says that it is a “safe soap brand” however, recently the company has been asked to remove its “coal tar” components. [The new] Wright’s Traditional Soap [therefore], does not contain coal tar; instead, tea tree oil has been added for its antibacterial characteristics.

CREDITS

All artist quotes and notes are from their writings, websites or older interviews.

We are grateful to all the young people who were part of the Teen Takeover @ MAP programme for their curiosity, insights and many thought-provoking reflections. We are also thankful to ThinkArts for helping us conceptualise and deliver our pilot edition of the Teen Takeover programme, in particular Analina Sanyal, Ruchira Das and Rukmini Chakravarty.

All participants who have contributed to this exhibition: Aanya Arora, Aarohi Bhatt, Adira Das, Adrija Jana, Ahana Ray, Aishani Jhawar, Anusha Mitra, Anvita Ghosh, Avani Gupta, Chanchal Beriwal, Debashmi Chakrabarti, Dhwani Bachhawat, Diya Chatterjee, Drishti Jodhani, Flora Bavishi, Girisha Kedia, Ishani Bhowmick, Maham Jahangir, Manasvi Baid, Manaswi Shroff, Meher Paul Mehmi, Navdisha Narang, Nishita Bajaj, Prisha Khemka, Priyal Binani, Roshni Adhikari, Saanvi Fatehpuria, Sanjana C Mittra, Sharonee Adhikari, Shriya Biswas, Siddhi Gersappa, Swaranya Sarkar, Teesta Guhaganguly, Vaibhavi Gupta, Vanshika Suri, Zaara Ali

Curator: Shilpa Vijayakrishnan, MAP
Graphic Design: Ashwin R, Langoor and Abraham John, MAP
Digital Exhibition Development: R Sridhar, Manish Kumar, Rajat Kumar, Surya, Langoor
Communications: Krittika Kumari, Mallika Dabke and Shaina Jagtiani, MAP
Inclusion Manager: Kunal Mehta, MAP
Indian Sign Language Interpretation: Saurav Roychowdhury

Thanks to Arnika Ahldag and Vaishnavi Kambadur for their feedback and inputs; as well as Shruti Kondi for her assistance with all video and image descriptions.