My interest in using art as a metaphoric social observation launched this project, titled 'Redemption', to explore, interact, react and re-represent the concept of untouchability in India. Being an untouchable in India is to hold the lowest position in society, having none or minimal right to live fearlessly. Their untouchability is related to the caste they are born into according to the Manu - document based on Hinduism. Even though the Indian constitution has made the practice of any kind of discrimination based on caste illegal, they are still treated as the lowest.
My main interest is to investigate the idea of 'Muthappan and Parassinikadavu Temple', a shrine that is thriving testimony of secular harmony, which I consider as a form of Redemption of hope and belief, which was taken away in the name of culture and tradition. This will require travelling to Kannur, a city in Northern Kerala, India, to get a vantage view of this experience. By comprehending the daily struggles of the marginalised groups, I am hoping to reflect and represent it through photographs, moving images and installation. I believe visual language is the most powerful, and it has the power to soar awareness about the social reality of the people who are oppressed by caste and creed.
In an Indian context, a society where subaltern voices are ignored or muted, I suppose it is crucial to take out the invisibility of the unheard and unseen people who are confined by the utopia of purity and traditions. Michel Foucault has drawn our attention to the 'capillary form of existence' of power, 'the point where power reaches into the very grain of individuals, touches their bodies and inserts itself into their actions and attitudes, their discourses, learning processes and everyday lives'. (Góes, p5, U/K). Which describes the reason behind the unchanged status of the marginalised in India.
I wish to explore the possibilities of using space as a medium to mediate the notions of purity, caste, touch and body that encompasses the social thinking of Indians, which is deeply rooted. By acknowledging and aggrandising the concept of harmony within an already existing unequal caste structure, this project aims to uncover the ever doubtable facts about the practice of purity in the Hindu religion.
The budget that I have set for this project is £1000, as the travelling costs around £450. I intend to collect data regarding Parassinikadavu temple about their policy regarding documenting the ritual ere I visit the place. With the combination of moving image and photographs, I am hoping to take risks and experiment to create a distinct creative language.
I believe this project fit into the fine art documentary genre, similar to Gauri Gill's photographic style, whose works are very thoughtful considering the kinds of subjects she works with. I attempt to use documentary photography to create inner narratives with the photographs to construct new senses and meaning by incorporating experimental elements. Casteism is a deeply rooted and ongoing problem in India, which is mostly obscured from the mainstream media and thinking, to maintain the privileges owned by the divisions of the higher strata of the caste structure, making this project relevant to today's social scene.
Regarding the theoretical aspects, I will be studying theories based on untouchability and the impact of colonial and post-colonial forms representations of the caste, which also links to my contextual module. Through this, I would like to explore the culture and history to displace and replace them to examine the origin of this barbaric practice.
To develop and to soar awareness about this issue, I believe it is vital to produce a various range of outcomes, which require more timescale than three months. So, I would like to acknowledge this project as an opening for the main body of work. I consider this as an excellent opportunity to experiment and take risks to envisage this project further for the free-range show. I am hoping to work with prints, clay modelling, jewellery making and moving image for the main body of 'Redemption', to consider and experiment to find the most natural way to communicate with the viewer. The main intention of this project is to evoke the sense of deprivation and Redemption at the same time.