The human leg is a recurring motif in Jithinlal NR바카라s work. The leg and feet are the embodiment of the lowest rung of an oppressive caste system. Through layered and unsettling drawings, visual narratives, installations, and paintings, Jithinlal draws our attention to the representation of marginalised and oppressed communities. The emphasis on the self-representation of Dalits stands out as a major theme in his work. His art demonstrates the new movement of marginalised people narrating their own stories. For Dalits, it is about claiming their own space, history and means of expression, a right denied to them by colonial and Brahmanical structures of India바카라s caste-ridden society.
In 바카라Wounds and Stars바카라, a painting featuring a lean farmer with one leg swollen due to filariasis, Jithinlal, in a close-up of the same leg, shows wounds visualised as cracks. For the young artist from Kerala, the swollen leg represents caste oppression. But the farmer in question is also seen staring stonily into space, perhaps into the future, indicating a sense of hope and emancipation from the drudgery of manual labour.
This practice of linking body parts with caste identities and realities informs many of Jithinlal바카라s artworks which are on display at the fifth Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2022-23 in Kerala. Born into a middle-class family in Ernakulam, his father worked in the Railways as a section engineer. His parents had had an inter-caste marriage. 바카라Even though I was born in a 바카라Dalit colony바카라, I hardly lived there. We were lucky to be mobilised out of the ghetto due to reservation,바카라 says Jithinlal.
His fascination with the idea of 바카라standing up or making something stand by itself바카라 propelled him to visualise the diagram of the four-tier caste system with the Shudras바카라바카라the legs바카라바카라at the bottom rung and the 바카라untouchables바카라 (pejorative term for Dalits) even below it. 바카라I was thinking of that image as a depiction of the social condition, and how violent it is,바카라 says Jithinlal.
Folk songs and local traditions have played a major role in developing modern Dalit art and consciousness. For centuries, Dalits have been deprived of telling their narratives, let alone accessing education and producing literature. But is there something that can be defined as 바카라Dalit art?바카라 Is it an expression of the lives of the marginalised? Or are we still defining 바카라Dalit art바카라 from the appropriated lenses of the upper caste and Brahmanised communities?
Jithinlal doesn바카라t mind calling himself a 바카라 Dalit artist바카라 in certain contexts but at the same time, he feels it is a kind of 바카라ghettoisation바카라; what once happened with land reforms in his state, is happening through language in the art world. 바카라I don바카라t think there is something called 바카라Dalit art바카라 if we are trying to define it in terms of style and theme, because then it becomes a stereotype. I think that is what is happening in the mainstream art world by and large, but the important thing for me is to ask what it rather proposes. I see it as a new sensibility to look at the world, a kind of a new episteme. I think 바카라Dalit art바카라 is in a state of flux which changes and can accommodate a lot of things apart from identity discourse,바카라 says Jithinlal.
Folk songs and other oral traditions are testament to the unwritten histories of marginalised communities. Jithinlal draws inspiration from Poykayil Appachan, a social reformer from Kerala and an active participant in the state바카라s renaissance movement. Appachan used a form of folk song and 바카라subaltern speech to create art for the slave caste,바카라 says Jithinlal. Most of these songs were either sung during work or in between breaks. Through these songs, workers were able to make manual labour bearable. Most of the songs are political in nature since they are also about a shared history and common emotions felt by Dalits.
Art forms can often be associated with class or caste hierarchies, says Jithinlal. This made him wonder why there was no elaborate art form from the lower strata of society. Perhaps, the simplest art forms they could rustle up under harsh working conditions were their sounds and words. He is careful not to romanticise the tradition. However, he says, 바카라When I look back, the thing that has driven me the most is what it means to be a Dalit in terms of the future.바카라
Certainly, Dalit voices and identities in the country are not a homogenous entity. They vary from region to region and employ different modes of expression to capture local hierarchical concerns and iconography. But is there a common thread in Dalit art? Does the theme of caste oppression, which features in his work, play a single dominant role in this new paradigm of art practiced by the marginalised?
바카라I think the common thread is the subaltern sociality it proposes, a discourse of equality,바카라 he says, in response.
Among his most favourite artworks is 바카라The Flaming Feet바카라, an installation that he fashioned out of cut-out drawings and found objects while at the Gasworks residency in London. It is an extension of a colonial photograph. Using ink, charcoal and found objects, the installation is based on an interpretation of a story of a Dalit uprising against an oppressive king from the book The Flaming Feet and Other Essays: The Dalit Movement in India by DR Nagaraj.
Many of the artist바카라s ideas are based on his own lived experiences. Therefore, his memories, including those relating to the land reform movement in Kerala, have become a reference point for his art. 바카라I think my agency is a very important thing that I value. It is also about assuming a political position as I understand it. I take a 바카라position바카라 on it since I was born in a 바카라Harijan settlement colony바카라 which in itself is a historical testimony to the failure of land reforms.바카라
So, does his identity restrict his art or nurture it? When he started out, 바카라identity바카라 was an essential tool through which he understood himself and his surroundings. But as he started to think critically about his own practices, he learned how to look beyond it. 바카라Identity is a two-edged blade, if you don바카라t know how to handle it, it can hurt you badly!바카라
(This appeared in the print edition as "Standing Tall, Painting Truth")
