Glancing at the fascinating works of female artists in ‘Concurrent India’

A major group show of Indian art in Finland focuses on the issues and concerns that recur in the new-generation artist’s works. Here is a quick glance at the works of sensitive female artists who form part of ‘Concurrent India’

Curiously enough, artist Rashmi Kaleka is fascinated by the human voice. She spent her childhood in Kenya, where the rhythms and intonations of different languages and dialects were etched on her mind. She did not travel to India until the early 2000s. In New Delhi, she recorded the rhythmic shouts of street vendors. In the video ‘Hawkers ki Jagah’, their voices blend with scenes of the city shot in the early morning. In recent years, however, the street vendors’ situation has become more difficult, as the authorities try to remove them from the streets.

In India, Sita represents the traditional female virtues such as obedience and submissiveness. Pushpamala N challenges this female ideal in her photographic series ‘Abduction’. On the other hand, a video installation by Nalini Malani is based on Galaxy of Musicians (1893), an allegorical painting by the Indian artist Raji Ravi Varma in which female musicians in various costumes represent the languages and religions of India. The orchestra symbolizes ‘unity in diversity’. This political slogan has been used to rouse nationalist sentiments in India.

The photographic series ‘Ganga’s Daughters I’ (2001–2007) by Sheba Chhachhi depicts women celebrating their initiation into the Sadhvi community as they renounce all earthly things, whereas a photographic triptych by Shilpa Gupta tells the tales of women awaiting their husbands, not knowing whether or not they have died in skirmishes between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. The social status of women living in uncertainty is unclear and insecure. In India, widows wear white for the rest of their life.

Another young artist from Delhi, Anita Khemka, focuses on marginalized people. Her photographs document people afflicted with HIV, the mentally ill, prostitutes and eunuchs. In her series ‘Laxmi’ she portrays the eunuchs. Her ‘Self-Portraits’ puts the artist herself in front of the camera. The pictures show how the public space in India is populated by men, and how unprotected a woman traveling alone is.

(Information courtesy: Helsinki City Art Museum in Finland)