Transgenders, tribespeople find a voice through art at ‘Samanwaya’

Adoor lauds Lalitha Kala Akademi for hand-holding marginalised artists

July 14, 2017 09:54 pm | Updated 09:54 pm IST - KOCHI

Filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan at ‘Samanwaya’, a cultural festival for transgenders, Dalits and tribespeople in Kochi on Friday.

Filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan at ‘Samanwaya’, a cultural festival for transgenders, Dalits and tribespeople in Kochi on Friday.

The premises of the Durbar Hall Arts gallery here resembled a carnival location, with festoons and designer cloth lamps hanging from its roof, as mainstream artists were joined by some 40 transgender artists and 18 tribal and Dalit artists in a 10-day arts and culture camp organised by the Kerala Lalitha Kala Akademi from Friday.

Titled Samanwaya, embracing otherness, the camp marked a beginning made by the Akademi to handhold artists from the margins to make their foray into the mainstream. Auteur Adoor Gopalakrishnan, who opened the camp in the evening, lauded the efforts of the Akademi in lending visibility to these otherwise marginalised artists. “They [transgenders] are our siblings and while they have always been with us, we refused to acknowledge them. The Akademi is doing the penance for that by nurturing their talents, giving them due respect and instilling confidence in them,” he said.

The camp began in the morning itself, with mainstream practitioners of art arranged by the Akademi coaching budding artists on skill development and the technicalities of painting. The excitement in the air was palpable, as members of the camp began pouring their thoughts and emotions on the canvasses set in the hallowed halls of the Durbar Hall, a premier exhibition centre of the Akademi. They painted a range of things, from landscape, abstractions and figurines to stark, in-your face depictions. Meanwhile, Belgaum-based artist Baburao Nadoni had started doing portraits of transgender artists taking part in the camp.

Akademi Chairman T.A. Sathyapal said that the initiative was a small step by the institution to trigger an inclusive cultural discourse and visual sensibility. “We have taken an interdisciplinary, interactive approach in organising the camp, with a focus on the marginalised sections. All our future camps will have these communities represented,” he said.

Sreekutty, president of the Sexual and Gender Minority, an organisation working among transgenders, was instrumental in ensuring robust participation of artists from the community in the event which will have regular art performances, esoteric painting demonstrations like Phad painting, film screenings on the theme of cultural resistance, wood carving sessions and talks on issues of nationalism, fascism and gender identities.

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