Those painted women

Celebrating the power of women on the ocassion of Mother's Day, an group exhibition titled She is being organised in the Capital that kick starts today.

The participating artists are -  Amina Kar, Anupam Sud, Balendra, Chandana Hore, Devi Prasad Roy Chowdhury, Dhiren Dev Burman, Anup Kumar Giri, Govardhan Ash, Jamini Roy, Julius Macwan, Kumar Singha, LM Sen, Lalu Prasad Shaw, Lee Waisler, Nabanita Guha, Nikhil Biswas, Paritosh Sen, Prankrishna Pal, Prokash Karmakar, Purna Behera, Raman Chakravarty, Shashi Rao Biradar, Sudhir Khastagir, Sushil Sen and Vinita Dasgupta.

A woman - a mother, a daughter - an object of desire? How much change has really occurred over the last hundred years, has it been all positive? Are we not transgressing in more ways than we progress, hiding under a clock that blurs out reality? The pieces displayed at the exhibition  deals with such type of questions. Through the work, artists try to make the mass realise that a woman is a person with feelings and thoughts just like other humans. As a mother, she is the one who gives birth, protects, sacrifices, cares for and is a sustainer. She is not a different species, as seen by most, a popular, prevalent, unsaid but practised sentiment. We humans are ready to discriminate on any ground feasible, a strange tendency proving itself incurable as the centuries roll by. Despite the odds, there have been some very strong examples, those that strived hard, fought wars or made sacrifices for their kin and country. Though there always have been obstacles but they sought to fight against all impediments  epitomes of tolerance and courage.

During Navaratri, we invoke the energy aspect of God in the form of the universal mother, commonly referred to as Durga, which literally means the remover of miseries of life. The artists have also used the goddess' portrayal to define the real meaning of women power. 

Medieval India became the 'Dark Age' for Indian women, it saw many foreign conquests resulting in a decline in women's status. Women began to be treated as the sole property of the father, brother or husband and not given any choice or freedom. They were not allowed to move freely and this lead to the further deterioration of their status.

The ‘Object of Desire’ maybe totally ‘Desirable’ but she is simply not an ‘Object’. The wound is deep and the memory is too stark to fade yet. Her first few steps have been treaded and they have not been easy.  She is set for a long struggle ahead of her, to find her place as the Ardhangini or equal half and emerge victorious and free, not as an exception but as a rule. It may not be easy but it shall happen. The empowered woman will always exit, in the past, in the present and in the future.