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Thought-provoking works of art

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: To highlight the lacunae of the present model of development and commercialisation in the name of beautification of cities and progress of the nation, the Delhi Shramik Sangathan and the Society for Rural, Urban and Tribal Initiative (SRUTI) jointly organised a unique three-day exhibition -- Visual Voices of the Marginalised -- in the Capital.

Organised at the All-India Fine Arts and Crafts Society, the exhibition that culminated on Sunday comprised artefacts created by 45 youth activists from various states of India during a month-long workshop. Through the artefacts, artists tried to portray mass-scale displacement of people from their land and how their protests have been largely ignored.

The young artists were so unpretentious that they become immediately endearing. The story of Anil, a displaced resident of the Vikaspuri slums, beautifully depicted his plight through clay art. After his home was demolished by the Delhi Development Authority in May, he was relocated to Bawana -- an undeveloped area with meagre civil amenities.

His depiction of `blind justice', represented by a blindfolded judge riding a bulldozer was thought-provoking. "We have been given land on a five-year lease, after that we don't know where we will be asked to go. And even the legal system has failed to recognise our plight," he added.

Similarly, upset over the rapid industrialisation and displacement of tribals, the youth of Orissa and Jharkhand created stirring works of art showing the destruction of the symbiotic relationship between man and nature. Satya Sabar, who stays close to Kalinga Nagar in Orissa, depicted the cost of development in the area with the killing of 13 tribals at the hands of the police.

Phoolchand Lavanshi, a class X student from Jhiri, Rajasthan, created a model depicting the depleting water sources in his area. His model showed birds, livestock and people looking expectantly at a dried out tube-well.

Giving details about the preparations done before the exhibition, SRUTI Fellow Ramendra Kumar said: "A youth congress was organised in Nagpur in January this year, where we met youth activists from all across the country. Seeing their enthusiasm, we decided to give them a platform to express themselves. We then asked the various organisations participating in the congress to send two children to us for a workshop, enabling them to express their views on any and every subject that concerns them."

The workshop was conducted by renowned artist K.P. Soman. "The workshop was held in May this year to give these children a tool to articulate their inner voices against the forces that are hostile to them. This was an initiative to put forth the collective creativity of the masses in the form of clay art," he said.

Conducted first at the Vikaspuri slums and then at Badli Village in Rohini, the workshop was a free-for-all, with slum dwellers partaking with the participants. "This is neo-art, or public-art, at its finest. Those participating will now be taking their skill back home with them to teach others. In this way the need for expression and the ability to express can be extended to several people," Mr. Soman asserted.

To give the participating children a taste of traditional art, Orissa's `Pattachitra' exponent Dilip Kumar Nayak was also invited to participate in the workshop. "We receive no support from any government organisation. There are so many people who want to express themselves, especially in Orissa where the locals are faced with the reality of displacement. With this exhibition the youth have been able to visualise their problems and challenges," Mr. Nayak said. Though the children might not have been able to learn the intricate art of `Pattachitra', they learnt the use of colours and canvas to create tableaux, he added.

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