Window to Manipur

Oinam Dilip documents Manipuri identity and culture through a series of paintings. By Divya Giri

Artist Oinam Dilip is concerned that the flatness of the digital world may ultimately wipe out micro and folk cultures and is clutching on to his Manipuri origins through his paintings.

Instead of taking to photography, he chose the brush to tell his stories and highlight the need to freely experiment with the cultural and anthropological vibrancy of the Northreast. Contending his art as “a window through which he sees his state and the Northeast,” Oinam says he has painted folk artists, tribals and other people from the region. He sees these works as free experiments with the real and the abstract. “The current works are inspired by identity-based iconic images, the environment, and tangible cultural objects,” he added.

Describing some of his works, he told us, “I try to encapsulate Manipur culture  as the only continuity. One of  my paintings depicts a female boxer as an embodiment of the sporting talent pool that is helping change the perception about our state. Another story talks about how the migration of youngsters has left the old alone and helpless. They encourage their children but hold a lot of pain beneath and  are left alone with nobody to talk to or share their anxieties with. They are the last protectors of life as we know it.”

Oinam has adopted the realistic, portrait style in some of his works because he wanted people to easily understand his roots and inspirations. He pointed out to another such accent in his painting Virgin Lady. Said he, “Earlier brides used to sport  a lot of ornaments on their forehead. Traditional belief goes that the ornaments don’t stay on the bride’s head if she is not a virgin. With changing times, nobody follows this particular  ritual. I wanted to demonstrate a societal change through this work. This is an honest internalisation of experiences.”

His earlier works engaged with the themes of “solitude, grim sentimentalism and forbidding darkness.”

Next month, he is planning to take the exhibition to Manipur so that they can relate to his angst. Oinam did his graduation from College of Art, New Delhi, and has exhibited widely in Bengaluru, Muscat and Delhi.