Beyond binaries

In its second edition, Gender Bender probes our understanding of gender through a range of artistic expressions.

September 02, 2016 04:38 pm | Updated September 22, 2016 04:58 pm IST - Bengaluru

In her seminal book, French existentialist Simone de Beauvoir wrote: “The body is not a thing, it is a situation: it is our grasp on the world and our sketch of our project”. Indeed, the body is the site of experiences, of love, of belonging, and of identity. All too often, society takes ownership of an individual’s body, in overt or covert ways, and binds it with stringent morals and repressive laws. This bears truth in our times as well where feminists still fight to be heard and there are long-drawn out protests against Article 377. Art continues to relentlessly question such restrictions. Last year, Bengaluru witnessed Gender Bender 2015, which showcased artistic interventions on the notions on gender, shattering the notion that it must be viewed in binaries. Following its success, the event gets bigger and better with 12 artistes from across the country showcasing videos, theatre pieces, puppetry and installations that will give a glimpse into a deeper understanding of gender.

This year’s event has been created by Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan and arts collective, Sandbox Collective, and co-curated by feminist magazine, The Ladies Finger. Over 100 entries were received. These were judged by an independent panel, comprising filmmaker Paromita Vohra, actor Kirtana Kumar, activist Gautam Bhan and scholar Anmol Vellani. The 12 selected artistes who will feature are Aruna Ganesh Ram, Avril Stormy Unger, Deepikah Rahul Bharadwaj, Diya Naidu, Kadak Collective, Kokila Bhattacharya, Morgan Campbell, Neha Singh, Padmini Ray Murray, Sanyukta Saha, Varun Kurtkoti and Varun Narain.

Varun Narain, a puppeteer from Delhi, will present Photosynthesis by Moonlight , an adult enactment with puppetry. Says Varun: “My presentation is 15 minutes. I look at gender through the eyes of plants: an equal life on this planet, who have a very progressive approach to gender.

“Gender is more inclusive in plants unlike the human world which tends to divide it all up.

“I was a student in Botany (honours) at Delhi University, and I have been inspired by a book called The Secret Life of Plants .”

Varun Ram Kurtkoti, a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and musician, who currently works at the Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, presents Ka's Wardrobe , written and directed by him, and performed by Mandali, the student theatre group of Srishti. In the play, three scholars are commissioned to write a textbook lesson on the creation of the universe, but they hit a roadblock.

Prajapati, the mythological hero of creation, has an identity crisis. “Ka's Wardrobe is a result of am obsession I've had ever since I attended a workshop in Varanasi, three years ago.

All of our life we are fed heroic stories of gods and their deeds, and these very stories end up stitching heroic ideas in us, about the strength of the male, fragility of female, and so on, which is where Prajapati kicks in: the creator of all universe according to Vedic mythology is lost: Prajapati gets the name 'Ka' because Prajapati isn't sure of ones own identity. As I started working on this, I realised the play needs a lot of interpretation. Enter Mandali, the theatre group of Srishti Institute of Art Design and Technology.”

Padmini Ray Murray, an academic based at the Centre for Experimental Media at the Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, presents Revelations XX, bring forth the often ignored and forgotten histories of women who shaped the city and country. For her research, Padmini says: “I am not too familiar with Bengaluru, so I asked friends and colleagues for suggestions and read what I could find - though, almost as to prove the point of the installation, there is a lot less in the historical record about women than about men.”

Mumbai-based Neha Singh presents Dohri Zindagi, an an interpretation of Rajasthani writer, Vijaydan Detha's short story. Speaking about using kaawad, which is a box on which each panel is an art work that tells a story, Neha says, “It is traditionally done by male kaawadis, but this time we have women kaawadis telling a feminist story.”

Morgan Campbell, a doctoral candidate of urban planning, and Nayana Udayashankar, a lawyer, environmentalist and arts enthusiast, explore Bangalore’s women bus conductors in their project.

Kadak, a collective of South Asian women - Akhila Krishnan, Aindri Chakraborty, Janine Shroff, Mira Malhotra, Garima Gupta, Pavithra Dikshit, Kaveri Gopalakrishnan and Aarthi Parthasarathy- who work with graphic storytelling will create a reading room comprising of both printed and material on screen-based devices.

Aarthi says: “Each artist has created individual work on their intervention of gender. There are eight pieces in total, which includes visual essays, mini comics, graphic stories and animated comics.”

Diya Naidu, a Bengaluru-based dancer-choreographer, explores touch and intimacy in her presentation of moving images.

“The piece being shown is an excerpt of a work-in-progress titled, Rorschach Touch. It explores gender and perceptions of gendered relations and power dynamics, through the subtle world of comfort and touch.

Avril Stormy Unger, a performer, choreographer and founder of The Storm Factory, Bengaluru, presents an immersive performance, Private Parts. “It reinvents reality, challenging your ideas of self and others by tapping into urban Indian society’s dependence on gender roles and forced stereotypes. It is an honest re-enactment of real life scenarios that are dark, searing, and occasionally humorous,” says Avril.

Kokila, a freelance illustrator and graphic designer, presents a visual narrative, based on a song composed by Animesh, and written by Kokila, “The music liberates me into all those identities that I have emulated over time, including my own, and transverse between them. Parts of it talk of fear and how it's important to come out of it. It is a circle, in the composition, the artwork and the poetry.”

(Gender-Bender 2016 will be performed on September 3 and 4, at 5 p.m. at Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan. Free entry. All are welcome. Call: 2520 5305. )

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