Feminine stance in popular culture

Whether one accepts it or denies it, we’re all driven to popular culture like bees to honey. The degree of submission varies but its influence on our lives is indisputable. An important aspect of popular culture are visuals, and at the centre of it,  have been the representation of women. 

Embroiled in debates surrounding morality, sexuality, misogyny and misjudgment, the fair sex has been exposed to ideas and attitudes that have come to define their collective identity. Therefore, it is imperative to bring some of these representations out in whatever forms they may exist, to shed the prejudices and celebrate women’s existence. In Kya Baat Hai 4, curator Rinchen Dolma launches off on this turf as she believes women’s position in popular culture has systematically changed the landscape of social functioning.  

The show is part of a series of exhibitions that Art Konsult gallery has put up over the years. Through artworks, sculptures, posters, textiles and collectables, it runs the narrative of strong women.
From Company School to Bengal School to more contemporary visuals, Dolma has put together frames that are commissioned, as well as borrowed from the owner of Art Konsult, Siddharth Tagore’s collection. “I use to manage one of his galleries called Art Projects Inc, where he came up to me and asked if I wanted to curate. I was stumped as I had no previous experience.

However, he showed confidence in my potential and empowered me with this role. Coming to think of it, this is exactly what we’re putting through in this exhibition, the idea that women should be, and need to be supported in big and small ways,” says Dolma.

Tagore would hand Dolma a pile of books and ask her to read them. Before she could finish, another pile was ready. “This helped me gain a world of insight into art practices. Many of these books had pretty photos that ignited my interest further,” she says. 

All the women in the exhibition have one thing in common, that is their innate spiritual strength. Whether she is adorned with ornaments sitting in front of a mirror, or holding a weapon, she holds the power of divine strength. “A photo from my NCERT book that I read as a child left a deep impact. The women in it were being attacked violently, and in her defence, she was holding up a fork. She could have aggressively attacked back, but instead, she used her spiritual strength to combat evil. That’s my biggest learning,” says Dolma, a cartoonist herself.

Coming from the small district of Lahaul in Himachal Pradesh, she is the first curator from the region. “I am not sure people there understand what a curator is but I hope these visuals reach there someday, inspiring the nameless women who have encouraged women like me to live a life of meaning,” she says.