Art from the Margins

Artists from marginalised communities reflect on the everyday lives of Dalits and the oppressed classes at an exhibition

- Abhik Bhattacharya

SCATTERED debris from the construction sites painted with the tools that labourers use to build mansions welcome you to the world of Amebedkarite aesthetics. Beyond the speculative grandeur of abstract artworks, it talks to and of the people—the marginalised whose voices are rarely heard. Curated by Professor Y.S. Alone, the exhibition on the Art of Difference, titled ‘Interrogations and Ideologies: A Quest for Equality’ at the American Centre, New Delhi, is representative of what the curator calls ‘anti-metaphysical aesthetic practice’, an effort to go against the grain.  

As 16 artists from marginalised communities come together to reflect on the alternative visual culture, it becomes a space that represents the everyday lives of Dalits, women and the oppressed classes. The exhibition also portrays the lives of Dr Ambedkar and Jyotiba Phule whose contribution to the anti-caste movement dismantled the prevalent notions of caste hierarchy.  

Professor Alone says, “Mahatma Phule and Dr Ambedkar are the prominent figures who raised their voices against caste, gender, labour and all kinds of exploitation. This is an integral part of the Ambedkarite thinking process and hence, their ideas become a critique of Brahminical hegemony, inequality and Brahminical modernity.”