Khoj artist residency explores themes of discrimination

Racial discrimination, migration, politics and feminism are among the major themes explored by a new residency programme hosted by Khoj International Artists' Association in Khirkee village here.
As part of the 13th PEERS programme, which seeks to provide a platform to emerging artists to experiment beyond their academic curriculum, five recent arts graduates have created thought provoking artworks during the month-long residency.
The show will be on display from June 16.
Hailing from a conservative family, 25-year-old Anuradha Upadhyay attempts to draw the viewers' attention to the uncomfortable and disturbing "male gaze" that women are subjected to in their day to day lives.

Her work appears to draw constant references to the socio-political dynamics of the contemporary times while deeply engaging with her own subjectivity as a woman within the society.
"I come from a conservative family and one issue that concerns me is how women are perceived in our society. Khirkee as a venue is a multi-cultural place with multiple expressions from where I wanted to create the various types of 'gazes'," says Upadhyaya, who is an MFA in Fine Arts from Maharaja Sayajirao University.

Being a region which is dominated by either the African communities or the lower income group migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Khirkee, she says, gave her an opportunity to observe how these communities are perceived in the city.

"While working at Khoj, what also interested me was how African communities are looked at. There are so many workers here from UP and Bihar and how they are perceived, also interested me," she says.
To realise the idea, she has painted mask-like faces on small sculptural objects which will be showcased as part of the programme.
Pune's Smita Rajmane has also been working on similar lines where she uses her art as a commentary on several incidents that took the country by storms in recent times.
Rajmane, an MFA from Shiv Nadar University, focused on the
Khirkee mosque area and used threads to measure boundaries of nearly 60 houses in and around the dilapidated site.

She has then created metal bars using the same measurements to create a maze-like installation inside the studio.
The artwork, she says, reflects the experience of "being an outsider."
"There are boundaries all around us, in family and in society. Living in Khirkee made me even more aware of about these multiple layers of society.
"There used to be so many Africans here earlier, now there are more Iranians. What are the boundaries they are expected to live in? Then there is the mosque area, where there are more landowners, while the rest of Khirkee is either slum area or the glitzy malls. Who creates these boundaries?" she says.

The perennially troubled issue of migration and contemporary urbanism is taken up by the youngest of the lot, Arijit Bhattacharya.
The 25-year-old graduate from Veer Narmad South Gujarat University talks about art that is functional and that can be used to the benefit of those who live in makeshift shelters.
For the residency he has created a leatherette bag that transforms itself into a "superhero rubber suit" which can be worn during fire emergencies.
"I noticed that there is a lot of construction in Khirkee and therefore it's also a huge safety hazard, especially if a fire breaks out. Since I want my art to be functional, I have designed this suit which can be worn as protective gear," Bhattacharya says.

Other projects from the residency include Kolkata based cartoonist Manojit Samanta's three-dimensional jigsaw like puzzle made out of cardboard cut-outs that depict the chaotic, unruly life of Khirkee Extension and Manipuri artist Johnson Kshetrimayum 's works on racial discrimination that are based on his personal experiences of abuse.
"We were called everything from a 'chinky' to 'chowmein' and many times were slapped and beaten up," Kshetrimayum says.
He has depicted all of this in the form of wall drawings and illustrations that talk about discrimination.
The five-day-long show is set to conclude on June 20.