Revised proposal
Allocation of labour, based on caste, was and is practised in India. People who are considered to be in the "lower" strata of the caste system are restricted to jobs that are considered as "filthy" or "too polluting" to the upper castes. From farming to manual scavenging, Dalits face abuse and poor or no remuneration. Even though the majority of the Dalits undertook tasks related to agriculture, none of them owned a single inch of land. This project aims to explore the lives of people who hail from the Dalit community, as casteism is believed to be non-existent, for the advantage of people who belong to the upper caste communities. By focusing on three generations and their experiences, I intend to break the lies that hide the brutalities and oppression faced by people that are categorised under "lower" caste. This will be an ongoing project, as it needs thorough research and interaction with these communities. I am hoping to create photographs a well as moving images combined by live audio. I will be using a Canon 600D with 50mm lens, Zoom H4n pro digital multi-track recorder for the sound. I will be using natural light and a domestic environment as this will be shot in a documentary format, combined with fine art. The maximum budget set for this project is £1000, as this requires travel from the UK to South India.
The final body of work
The term 'Dalit' meaning 'broken' in Hindi/Urdu and 'oppressed' in Sanskrit, is a chosen name for the 'lower- caste community' of India. Generations after generations, people who belong to these communities are labelled as unpure and untouchables. Of all the regions of India, Kerala (Southern India) had and have the most rigid and elaborate caste structure. Violence against these people is considered as "normal" and shunned from any mainstream media. According to the constitution of India, any discrimination based on caste, religion and colour is illegal, yet this continues to happen with the silent approval of police and the officials.
This project explores the Dalit reality of three generations. This project is ongoing, which will be completed in three parts. Mr Neelakandan lives in Malappuram, a district in Northern Kerala. This project titled "Voices" revisits the life of Mr Neelakandan during his 20s, giving us an insight into the past Dalit reality. He shares how life was 70 years ago for a person who hails from a Dalit community. Along with the video narrated by Mr Neelakandan and portraits, this project collectively questions the fragility and instability of the false reality lived by the "upper" caste communities of India. Researching theories helped to accelerate the process and develop an unbiased outcome.
Before finalising on what I want to visualise, I experimented with various methods and theories to make sure that the message which is highly social and political, is conveyed transparently. I researched theories that explore various aspects of diversity in India, as the lies of unity and togetherness is passed on through generations. I was inspired by "Cultural diversity acclaimed, but social and economic diversity ignored: The case of Dalit India by Ramaiah Avatthi, which talks about how the oppression of Dalits are hidden behind India's "cultural diversity". Another theory that I found useful was Gail Omvedt's "Understanding caste". Omvedt brings the reader to the failures and triumphs of the many efforts that have aimed to dissolve the oppressive facts of Hinduism and it's caste ideology.
To develop an intriguing visual language that communicates a topic which is political, through a medium like Fine art photography was the first challenge I faced. I was inspired by Jacob Carlsen's series titled "Outcast - the repressed people of Asia", which portrays the poverty, inequality, hardship and exclusion suffered by hundreds of millions of people in South Asia, as well as small glimmers of hope and empowerment. Carlsen photographs these communities in a documentary style that captures the accurate representation of their reality. It was important to refer to authors and books that reflect on India's current take on casteism. Kancha Ilaiah's" Why I am no a Hindu" was a perfect pick. Ilaiah looks at the socioeconomic and cultural differences between the Dalits and Hindus in the contexts of childhood, family life, market relations, power relations, Gods and Goddesses. He also talks about how children, categorised, according to their gender, are trained to fit into the caste that is designated for them - leaving them no choice but to accept.
When critically analysing the final body of work, I am pleased to have completed the project considering the current pandemic situation, as it was challenging to find people who are willing to take part in this project. I collaborated with a filmmaker and a translator who is based in Kerala, India; which made it accessible to communicate with the locals easily. We had to follow the COVID protocol during the shoot to make sure everyone is safe. We collectively managed to produce a documentary with live sound and a series of photographs.
Choosing images to create diptychs to maintain the uniformity throughout the book was a challenging task. I had to revisit my dissertation and research to pick a core element to have the diptychs based on. Sudharak Olwe's work based on Manual scavenging was a turning point for this project, as his photographs portray the reality of caste-based labour in India. I chose to highlight the element of nature with Neelankandan's portrait because people from these communities are expected to take on jobs that need more manpower, which mostly is farming, cattle rearing and manual scavenging. These photographs aim to question the fragility of lies built around equality and diversity slogans in India.
Collaborating with artists has always given me better opportunities and experiences. For this project, I chose to work with a filmmaker. I learned about the variety of equipment available to record audio. We used a Zoom H4n pro digital multi-track recorder for the sound and a Canon 600D with 50mm lens for the portraits. As the final outcome, I created a photo book and a moving image piece along with the audio from Neelakadan's interview.
Critical reflection and Conclusion
I am very pleased with the end result, as it successfully portrays the experiences of Neelakandan in a detailed yet simple form. This project has evolved since the beginning of this module. I created a series of images based on news articles about the caste atrocities during the lockdown. The whole series is a metaphor of emotions that I felt when I first read the articles. From there, I developed another series of images and plotographs, using a model as the salient element, to mediate the emotions portrayed in the photograph to its audience—taking inspiration from Ruud Empel's works, who is lead by the minimalistic aesthetic, creating images that envisage the notions of childhood, memory and nostalgia. This process helped me to get a better understanding of how creative development works. Experimenting with various methods by taking inspiration from artists whose styles are very diverse enabled me to create a unique visual language to fit for my project.
As the submissions are made virtually this module, I learned a few new software. I created a virtual flipbook to present how my photobook will look when it is printed. Using a free website called Art steps, I designed a virtual exhibition; it was a very challenging experience, as it was my first time creating a virtual exhibition.
I visited a few physical exhibitions and artist talks this year. Although I didn't find most of them relevant to my project, I found the Museum of Goa very engaging. Museum of Goa is on one of the largest Contemporary space in India, founded by Subodh Karkar in 2015. They celebrate local history and people through contemporary art and make it available to a broader audience. Most of the works are permanent exhibitions, enabling the audience to go back and experience a new art experience every time. The placing of each artwork is thoughtfully done to give importance to each piece. There is no ambient music played but the sound from each artwork echos very minimally throughout the museum. Their design and presentation inspired me to create my virtual exhibition.
My weakness can be found in researching and critically analysing them. However, I am working towards it since my last project, and I am confident that I am getting better as I have extended my research to books rather than just following online resources. I managed to find time to research, even though my internet connection was unstable at times. I had access to a variety of books relevant to my project, which made the researching process more convenient. Getting constant feedback from the lecturers despite the fact we didn't have physical lessons came as a benefit. I had issues with time management as it was tough to find people who were amenable to take part in a project during a lockdown.
If I get to work on this project again, I will use a full-frame camera and a better time management plan. I had to work with the pieces of equipment that were available because I was unable to travel from India since March when I arrived to shoot for the first time this year. One of the significant achievements I received this year was a getting nominated for above and beyond awards for the first part of this project titled ''Redemption''. It was a great form of appreciation and an inspiration to create more. Having a considerate amount of following on Social media has helped to keep my works always on momentum. I have also entered several competitions and applied for grants to help me with upcoming projects.
There was group crits end of every week, which had doubtlessly helped my communication skills and to exchange ideas with my peers and tutors effectively. My workflow stayed consistent, and I managed to achieve the level of great satisfaction with the results. I always struggled to transfer my emotions into words. Working with theories and following the long reading materials provided with the project brief helped to improve my vocabulary and knowledge in contemporary aesthetic theories.
Expanding and exploring my artistic practice always felt like a challenge, but it felt more accessible through this project. Building a virtual exhibition, creating photographs and researching at the same time within the given timescale was a hurdle, but each part of the process was enjoyable.
Development
I am planning to develop this project, by including more people, from different genders, age group and locations. The experiences and impact of casteism on individuals are diverse for each gender. During a conversation with Nelakandan's wife, it struck me how gender oppression has led these people into believing inequality is normal. She denied the fact casteism exists and believes it is common to be subservient. It is crucial to study further about the role of gender oppression in casteism.
As I was looking into works of young artists, photographers and musicians, and I came across a rap music video in Malayalam (a language spoken in South India), it talks about the age-old caste-discrimination and the pains of the marginal people living in the Indian society. Vedan is a rap artist from Kerala. In the Malayalam language, Vedan means hunter, the aboriginal hill tribe. Deeply influenced by the political thinking of Marx, Ambedkar and Periyar, his rebellious rap songs talk about the anti-class and anti-caste grievances of the people living in the margins of the Indian society. It was very intriguing to see how the protests against these atrocities are slowly finding its way to educate and inform the outer world. This inspired me to consider creating a music video that highlights the caste atrocities by recreating famous photographs published in newspaper articles. I have been working with a bunch of young artists, including filmmakers and music producers at the moment. By using the power of visual media and music to convey a political message is what I aim to do next.
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