Discussions around gender, identity and expression are entering mainstream consciousness, thanks to the efforts of trans activists and artists. Alok Vaid Menon happens to be one of the people at the forefront of this movement. The gender non-conforming writer and performance artist who prefers the pronouns they/them, used to be one half of the erstwhile DarkMatter, a trans South Asian performance art duo. They have been performing solo for the past year and are currently bringing their new show Watching You/Watch Me to India. Although Menon is largely popular for their spoken word poetry, the new show manoeuvres around the format to include singing, dancing and stand-up comedy; rollicking performances wrapped neatly into one show.
Ever since they were three years old, Menon had a passion for performing. We’ve all participated in our fair share of chunni -clad dancing in our parents’ living rooms as children. But Menon, now in their 20s, carried forward the enthusiasm for performance and infused it with their politics. Growing up in a household of artists allowed them the support to create their work but the gaping hole in literary narratives about people like them left them grasping in the dark. “It was a reaction to feeling erased,” they explain their work. “I feel like I started writing because no narrative existed to describe who I was. It became a form of exploration: What do I do with this body? With this life? I never meant to be a political artist but the nature of what I say inevitably becomes political.”
Fighting ignorance
Without compelling representation of their identity, Menon decided to start from scratch. Their work spans a variety of topics from racial violence to climate change, identity and power dynamics remain recurring themes. And their focus lies in South Asian heritage (Menon is Indian by birth), gender non-conformity and the intersecting space created by the meeting of the two. What they’ve noticed is that ignorance about these identities propagates violence. “People ask us why trans people deserve special treatment but it’s time to shift the conversation,” they say. “It is not about cosmetic surgery, it is about human rights. It shouldn’t cost so much to be you.”
Despite growing awareness of trans rights in India, Menon states that such a nebulous issue is more effectively dealt with by focusing on people rather than policies. In light of the largely problematic Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016, the work that lies ahead is difficult but far from impossible. “It is important to say that states in South India are doing such a great job,” says Menon. “We need more scholarships, schools built as safe spaces – like the school for transgender people that opened in Kochi last year – government jobs allocated through affirmative action, and doctors trained in transgender health.” Menon adds that the government should take a stand against corrective surgery for intersex people (those born with atypical genitalia), and the authorities they should take a stand against trans violence. “A lot of trans kids that I’ve talked to tell me, ‘I just want people to accept me’,” recalls Menon. “You don’t need to understand us to help, it should be human instinct to prevent bullying and violence.”
Fighting back
According to Menon, art definitely plays a part in this daily resistance, especially with the rise of Trump and right-wingers across the world. “What is the purpose of art in a climate like this?” asks Menon. “Performance is the only space where we can be honest anymore. It’s where audiences can come when they want to feel something real.” They add that art lets you fight desensitisation, creating a moment of pause for reflection.
In the recent past, Menon has acknowledged that power inequalities often make art inaccessible to the people it is meant to help. Language itself would make their work unrelatable for the majority of the trans community in India. “It’s hard to reconcile those tensions in myself,” they explain honestly. “Here I am, talking about colonisation in English; it’s perverse.” While they stay vigilant towards the barriers separating their art and audience, Menon’s solution is to concentrate on supporting the people who do groundwork.
To create art, Menon steadfastly maintains avoiding self censorship. “Good art comes from people who don’t hold back. Holding back is often rewarded as being ‘refined’ and I doubt we want our art to be that.” It seems like advice that artists with a litany of FIRs slapped against them would be wary of but Menon clarifies that there is work we do in public and in private. “My most profound work is in the privacy of my diary. We can still write it all down in private. We can create a legacy for ourselves.”
With Watching You/Watch Me, Menon culminates months of experimenting with style and format. “I gave myself permission to reinvent myself and experiment with new territory,” they say adding that exploration of new things was necessary to avoid being stuck in an angsty 20-something space. “There’s a sense of resolution and clarity in the messages I want, I’m unapologetically myself on stage. I just remind myself that I’ll always be the queen I was when I was three and wanted to perform!,” Menon asserts.
Watching You/Watch Me will be held from May 5-7 at the Cuckoo Club, Bandra at 8 p.m. A workshop discussing gender at the same venue will be held on May 7 from 4 p.m. See bookmyshow.com.
