An expression of suppressed female sentiments and sensuality

A thought-provoking show at Latitude 28 in the capital city of India has a strong feminist undertone to it, as explained by curator Jasmine Wahi as follows:

With respect to women, as one can see through a wide range of diverse cultural outlets, there has been an overvaluation of chastity, virginity, demureness, and subdued behavior. Freedom of sexual expression, aggression, intelligence, and creativity have been stifled and smothered. Women who are overt and expressive have been (and are often today) frowned upon, if not shunned and rejected.

Divya Mehra's video piece ‘PANTS’ (2006) is the only piece in the show that exemplifies the not-so-long-ago suppression of women as independent beings. Although it is darkly humorous in execution, the piece explores the negative perception and fear borne by a woman acting like a man (wearing pants, drinking, venturing out alone).

The chastity belt was not a practical means for population control or to maintain 'purity,' which is itself an arbitrary concept. In fact, this stylish and popular contraption was merely a way to control a woman's physical freedoms. Shweta Bhattad's multimedia chastity belts, particularly ‘Releasing Suppressed Emotions 1’, utilize the shape of the vaginal prison; they, however, subvert the original intention of the object into a platform for personal expression and conquering that which suppresses us, through our own inner strength.

The prevalence of mixed-gender attributes in the divine is quite common, not only in Hinduism, but also among several other religious factions. The glaringly obvious examples being Judith, Athena, and Kali- as depicted in both Samira Abbassy's painting ‘Kali's Mirror’ and Sangeeta Sandrasegar's circumambulatory work (2011). Abbassy's ovular work again reverts back to the depiction of a violent and vengeful wrath. The braided youth to the left of the guillotined figure holds up a mirror, indicating either self-admiration or self-reflection. Sandrasegar's work is also a tribute to Kali and Durga.

Anjali Bhargava's ‘Suffocation Series’ (2009) also alludes to the goddess, as an homage to the sensuality and perfection of the divine. This feminist rebellion is expressed through blatant displays of eroticism reinforced in ‘And the falchion passed through his neck…’ with Samira Abbassy's ‘Mother of Silences, Seer of the Unseen’ - in which there is clear female dominance, and perhaps an allusion to sexual sadism. Hamra Abbass' series of nine performance photographs, ‘Paradise Bath’ (2009) also alludes to power play through the act of washing or cleansing a woman in the ritual of bathing.