Contemporary Visual Culture of Alternate Sexuality.
There is an entire generation that has grown up and are practicing adulthood through the decade of the late nineties and and the 2000s’. at least in the urban cosmopolitan pockets of india (the pockets in which ‘contemporary indian art’ largely thrives) ‘coming out of the closet’ has largely begun to signify freedom, rather than the fear of social stigma. The Delhi High court Judgement de legitimising Section 377 IPC, has undoubtedly opened up new horizons. However (along with the gay and lesbian movements) one cannot ignore the impact of feminism in opening up our understanding of gender and body, and challenging the patriarchal hetro sexual framework.
Now there is a young generation of artists working with a new freedom for expressing body, sexuality and gender, and this is what ‘boarding the canvas| celebrating blemishes’ focuses upon. The attack on Balbir Krishan’s last solo at Rabindra Bhavan Delhi (one of the last remaining significant ‘public’ spaces for art in India), showed that in this world of false morality, not too many people like the rainbow yet. The acceptance of alternate sexuality is not simply a change of taste, but marks an important stress line in our battle against heteronormative patriarchy. It is under such circumstances we feel the historical need and opportunity to do an annual art exhibition of the contemporary visual culture of alternate sexuality. Organised as a part of Kolkata Rainbow Pride Festival, this show seeks to be a platform for expression and dialogue, and also a zone that makes contestation possible.
About the exhibition:
The exhibition is designed in three sections as walk from : entrance 1 -2
Section 1- posters/pamphlets/stickers of NGOs working with sexuality rights, and covers of iconic magazines of the community.
These section is designed to give the viewer a glimpse into the mainstream visual language of the communities of alternate sexuality
Section 2- Art video corner...6 videos in loop: Suchismita Ukil. Manmeet Devgun, Deepak Tandon, Paribartan Mohanty:
Section 3- Paintings, Art Photographs, Digital Prints, Installations, Drawings
Balbir Krishan, Anuradha Upadhaya, Deepak Tandon, Jayna Mistry, Mandakini Devi, Manmeet Devgun, Moumita Shaw, Prakash Kishore, Rudra Kishore Mandal, Syed Taufik Riaz, Tapati Choudhury, Jose Abadh and Vidisha Saini.
The exhibition extends itself into a limited edition catalogue, Sunil Gupta’s interview helps us understand how alternative sexuality is slowly coming out of the closet in contemporary visual culture...both the histories of struggles and celebrations. Prof. Shivaji Paniker’s essay brings out the fissures within art history and curation in terms of practice, and forms a critical text in resisting a heteronormative takeover of Bhupen Khakkar.
The show will be installed as an exhibition hanging workshop with volunteers from KRPF and Performance independent (Pi), and there shall be performance interventions by Pi through out the duration of the show.
Rahul Bhattacharya
Co-founder - Regional Arts Performance and Events
Jt. Secretary - Performers independent
