Art is an industry that thrives on cultural capital, resources, contacts, and so on. It is widely held that to pursue an art career, one must be extremely wealthy, as it may not pay well; hence, considering art as more than a recreational activity has always been an act of resistance and persistence for Dalit artists. As part of democratic equality and current expressions, art is essentially opposing a system and creating a space for itself. A battle that has developed over the last three decades in the shape of poetry, painting, and even photography is all about generating alternative thinking and space, where not just worries, but also creative realms are engaged.
The prevalence of caste and caste hierarchy in India can be easily established by evaluating the representation of SCs and STs in the labour sector. According to a Hindustan Times article, Scheduled Castes (SCs) are among the poorest off in the labour market. The same situation holds in the visual arts sphere, where Dalit artists have received no form of representation or exposure.
According to Y.S. Alone’s essay “Caste Life Narratives, Visual Representation, and Protected Ignorance” when colonial power entered India art patronage became popular and gallery spaces came into existence, though access to these places was restricted based on caste stratification. In the same essay, Alone claims that when the imperial government constructed art colleges, the upper caste Hindus reaped the most benefits, and that this culture is sacrosanct and a sign of purity.
“In India, art, in general, has been associated with and practised by the higher class. The work of Dalit artists is either ignored or thought of as activism instead of art.” Sudharak Olwe, a Padma Shri awardee photographer said in one of his interviews. Olwe’s work has always revolved around narrating stories of resilience and turning the lens on the oppressed. Olwe also explains that this kind of art arose from the frustration and cultural underrepresentation that Dalit artists had in society. Unfortunately, it is this history of oppression charted through their art that is only recognised as a form of activism. As a result, the majority of the work is a portrayal of the hardships Dalit artists had to undergo in order to carve out a space for themselves.
This year at the India Art Fair, I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Madhukar Mucharla, a leather artist. He says that he chose leather as a medium for his art because he wanted to reclaim the space that he and his community had been denied for years. He selected leather since his community is discriminated against because they work with it and it smells. “Even during my student days, several people would not want to communicate with me after they knew my background. At that time, some gallerists, too, did not want to show my works since the leather would smell,” Madhukar while talking to Indian express about his experience as a Dalit artist.
Savindra Sawarkar, often known as ‘Savi,’ is the first Bahujan artist to examine and investigate Dalit experiences of Caste in Delhi’s affluent exhibition venues. ‘Devdasis’ is his most well-known work. It directly translates to “god’s servant.” This is an age-old tradition of ‘deflowering’ females as they reach puberty in the name of a god, usually with the temple priest. We must remember that these Devadasis have always belonged to marginalized groups; according to a 2001 report by the National Commission of Women, there are over 2,500 Devadasis on the Karnataka-Maharashtra border, and all of them are Dalit. Sawarkar chose to capture the cruel treatment against Dalit girls after getting the Grahi grant at the Yellamma temple in Saundatti, Karnataka. Sawarkar in conversation with Scroll magazine talks about the Brahmanism that exists in Arts and the reason behind why no gallery ever represented him.
Malvika Raj, a Dalit Madhubani artist, claims that her first painting was of Krishna. She began to ponder what her story was and what could help her connect with her art. Because she had no connection to her first painting. She felt it was time to convey the stories of her community and the people who worked for the community. Raj claims that caste is profoundly ingrained in everyone’s brains, including among Dalit artists. The majority of them have accepted their fate. She recounts an event in which a Tantric artist refused to teach her the style because she is a Dalit, and when she opted to learn the method on her own, a local Dalit artist urged her not to paint in the Tantric style because he was worried for her life.
Rajayshri Goody, another well-known Dalit Artist, explores historical instances of Dalit struggle in her work. She accomplishes this through the use of diverse media such as writing, ceramics, photography, video, and so on. Rajyashri investigates the relationship between food and caste; she feels that eating is a political act. I had the opportunity to see Goody’s show “Is the water chavdar?” at Galleryske. The work of art is a personal tribute to the hundreds of Dalits who marched with Ambedkar down the steps of the Chavdar water tank in Mahad, Maharashtra.
The Indian art scene is completely Brahminical and is surviving mainly on freedom, says Jithinlal NR. He also presented at this year’s India Art Fair and I had the opportunity to hear him talk about his work. According to Jithinlal, the history of marginalised has always been erased by the oppressors. He tries to claim the space through self-representation, which continues to be a crucial part of the resistance and forms a crucial part of Jithinlal’s drawings. Jithinlal’s drawing Nose Snactcher and Other Crime Tales is inspired by the folk tales of the indigenous people of Kerala. The histories of Dalits were preserved through Christian missionaries and colonial administrators, where they were falsely portrayed as backward. His attempt to present this history is very counternarrative to the former’s intentions.
Also read: Relief Denied: The Impact of Caste Identity on Dalits during Disasters
Prabhakar Kamble is yet another Dalit artist noted for criticising people in positions of power. This is the subject of his 2017 piece, Suppresive. He placed a wooden chair with a world map graphic printed on its seat, as well as a bullet aimed at a huge tambourine hanging nearby. His art is centred on confronting the existential conditioning of India’s silent majority, who is suppressed by caste hierarchies.
The list of Dalit artists does not end here; many have been expressing their disapproval via art for many years. In 2023, there is a lot of power play that is widespread in numerous professions, and the Dalit community has always been on the receiving end. “Politics and aesthetics are not separate from each other, but are interconnected,” adds Sawarkar. In educational institutions, there is a need for targeted mentorship. The caste system in India does not paint an attractive picture, so why should anything that emerges as a result be any different? Art is very political, and for Dalit artists, it has always been a form of dissent.
About the author …
Hi! i am Anu and I am currently in my third year at LSR college, studying history. I love talking about films and art, and exploring them in both historical and social context. in the meantime, you will always find me logging movies on letterboxd.
Excellently written, very informative. Glad I came across this article would love to read more on this topic.