I was reading The Body in Religion: Cross-Cultural Perspectives by Dr Yudit Kornberg Greenberg a while ago. The gender scholar, Dr Greenberg, was in town and I was to interview her for my Mid day column. But the book stayed with me much after the interaction with the Fulbrighter. I was zapped by the author’s nuanced analysis of various faith-based practices in which the human body is disciplined, ritualised, altered, honoured and even mutilated across the globe. It was a coincidence that as I was revisiting the chapter titled `Marking and Modifying The Body’ in the book, I was invited to the Art & Soul Gallery for an exhibition of 45 photographs which showcase the human body as readable, appreciable, observable wonder-evoking text.

Curated by art historian (and author of Contemporary Indian Art: Imagined Locales) Shubhalakshmi Shukla, the group show underscores subaltern repressed voices which articulate unspeakable truths about bodies, relationships, fears, discoveries and joys. Shukla calls them “incredible voices from within” which have sprung to life in the Art & Soul show. She has brought together 18 artists from diverse social spheres and callings — ranging from Padmashree winner lensman Sudharak Olwe to J J School alumnus-painter Santosh Kalbande to Kolkata-based scenographer Swarup Dutta to Delhi-based poet-painter Rajesh Eknath. Many artists in the show hail from M.S. University, Baroda, which is Shukla’s alma mater.

Most of the subaltern voices (and faces) featured in the show belong to the Queer, Intersex and Asexual communities, but there are also representations of those who defy social norms in the broader sense. Two examples stand out in this context. Anuradha Upadhyay’s garish depiction of the Indian Hindu bride is a telling comment on the traditional dolling up of women. The Baroda-based artist’s self-portrait evokes the vibhatsa rasa (an oversized bindi, drooling kajal, heavy make-up, dangling nose ring, and a ‘Kali’ tongue teasing a world ruled by men) in her criticism of the behaviour ‘prescribed’ for a woman tying the nuptial knot. The chunky jewellery, inhabiting every inch of body space, denotes the burden carried by women in their domesticated roles. Upadhayay’s bride sipping tea from a kulhad is an arresting image.

Similarly, Arpan Mukherjee’s interactive photo series, in which eyeballs have been replaced with black bindis, also provide a different perspective on human gaze. Here the viewer is asked to ‘participate’ by way of physically adjusting eyeball bindis stuck on the photo frame. Even a slight shift in the gaze places the subject in a different light. Mukherjee, a Santiniketan-based arts practitioner-professor, uses studio portraits (initially shot in rural Bengal in the seventies, later altered to address the aesthetic of analogue photography) of young people — photographed primarily as marriage market commodities. He encourages the viewer of the exhibition to play with the ‘gaze’ and perceive the rejected or accepted candidates of a yesteryear market. Clubbed under Prastav (proposal), the standalone images are unwittingly woven in a funny narrative. I had a good time while adjusting the adhesive bindis!

Bindis evoke a different response in the self-portraits of Baroda-based photo activist Vedi. The vacant look of the bare-chested subject creates a suspense. The unsaid-unspoken is hinted at, and then left to interpretation. Vedi’s act brings to my mind a fatigued artist who unmasks and unpacks after a show!

Shukla has juxtaposed a rich range of subaltern expressions — subtle as well as in-your-face. In the former category stand out the three black and white prints of Kerala-based Nijeena Neelambaran. At the first glance, an elderly woman with a toilet roll doesn’t convey much. But it invites the viewer for a second look. A memory associated with a toiletry item or an unspoken association in the private realm? In the neighbouring frame, the non-pedicured feet of a matriarch suggest the way-ahead for a woman who has not yet woken up, but will soon have to deal with the day’s chores.

In stark contrast emerge Mumbai-based Sanjana Shelat’s self-portrait titled Silenced! Unheard! Ignored! The artist masquerades as the possessed woman; explores a sensual side of her personality, which even surprises her close friends, informs Shukla. In the artist’s statement, Shelat gives a choice to the viewer. He or she can react to layers of provocation and defiance, as seen in the images. Or the viewer can have a dialogue with “my inner self.” I feel both the options are worth the while.

Artists like Sharmila Gupta, Rachana Nagarkar, and Avijit Mukherjee have a more obvious focus on voices which are clearly off-stream. Mukherjee’s Deb Barua, a gay model, is struggling to find acceptability in middle-class Kolkata; Nagarakar’s Kausalya and Parvati are transgenders who do not get due respect in their residential locality; Gupta’s Shivali is a transgender who has undergone a sex change operation. She has had to struggle for acceptance in the family and community at large. Shivali is an ambitious person, aspiring for a career in fashion; also a trained classical dancer. Shivali was present at the launch of the exhibition; she fights for transgender community’s right to employment. She has also created awareness about sex change surgeries.

Subaltern Sexuality: Body As Text is Shubhalakshmi Shukla’s third attempt to delve into ‘text’ as an artistic expression. The first was a capture of text-based works which reacted to everyday angst, loss of roots and consumerism. The second series concentrated on power play and social disparities. Shukla, perennially intrigued by readable and written text, has studied national-global artists who have conveyed strong social critiques in the form of pithy texts. Her book Imagined Locales has a special focus on Text as Inscription, in which she follows artists like Anita Dube who provoked radical thought by way of cryptic text (Dystopia’s Spillage). Shukla sees text as “politically edged material” for making art where ‘meaning’ is a cultural signifier. She reads meaning in the signs, symbols and text-based images that cities like Mumbai are inundated with.

As I end this piece, India wakes up to another Independence Day, the 73rd. It is a day when we celebrate our freedom, our sovereignty and our sense of self. It is also a day when we, as a people, pledge our commitment to protection of our civil rights and democracy; it is day when we pledge support to the fair representation of all voices. That includes the subaltern too! Happy Independence Day!