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Unveiling the Invisible: Chennai Photo Biennale vies for a feminist discourse in photography

The exhibition at Govt. Arts College brings to the forefront the process of reclaiming women’s spaces, bodies and role in the society.

Srinjoy Dey

Chennai, March 1: An almost life-sized photograph of a woman gazes at the passers-by. The lines beneath her eyes suggest exhaustion, the curves of her pressed lips are an indication of an imminent trauma inflicted outburst. She is holding a passport-size picture of a man in his early thirties – her dead husband.

*Rajitha holding a photo of her husband P.Ramesh, a tenant farmer in Bhupalpalli Village, Telengana – who committed suicide in 2016 due to an outstanding loan of Rs. 2,30,000.*

The portrait of the widow is one among the 20 picture series by Gurgaon-based writer and photographer Vijay Jodha. The Chennai Photo Biennale exhibition feature in the Govt. Arts College called ‘The First Witness’ captures the process and the consequences of bear witnessing a farmer suicide. The image scale “subverts visual culture in India where large hoardings are a monopoly of the famous and powerful,” says the artist’s note, “the project seeks to contribute towards ensuring that eventually no farmer is left without means or dignity. In that sense, this project is driven by hope rather than despair.”

The Chennai Photo Biennale has the potential to emerge as a landmark photography event in India, with a footfall of over a lakh visitors in its first edition in 2016. Stellar names like P.Sainath, Nalini Malani, Gauri Gill, Atul Bhalla, Anna Fox, National Institute of Design (NID), National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) and Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology were associated with this year’s edition from February 22 to March 24.

The work of P.Sainath, who emphasizes on recognizing rural women’s contribution to the economy, was also presented. The project, titled ‘Visible Work, Invisible Woman,’ journaled the stories of rural women who are largely neglected in the public discourse.

*P. Sainath’s work is a collection of photographs shot in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh*.

The series questioned the existence of rural welfare schemes for women and the societal challenges that mar them. He critically examines, for example, the all-women panchayat in Madhya Pradesh whose powers are limited due to the deeply-rooted social stigma. He also chronicles the journey of women manual scavengers, herders, wood-cutters, gatherers, seed-sowers and land-tillers. He also highlights the condition tribal and Dalit women as the victims of the worst kind of oppression and the administrative failure to acknowledge the issue.

The Mumbai based Aishwarya Arumbakkam, explored the misconceptions and taboos attached to gender through a popular female Cambodian folklore character – Ahp, . In her retelling of the myth, she changes the narrative by portraying the story through Ahp – whose isolation and public perception is symbolic of a larger culture of misrepresentation.

A more direct subversion of gender role was portrayed in Indu Antony’s ‘Manifest’ where the 13 queer subjects were unbound from their archaic positions in the society. The Bangalore-based artist’s work encapsulated the discourse of gender performativity. “Queer or straight, women perform their femaleness both within and against societal gender rules that dictates what women should be. In a patriarchal society we work harder to establish our womanhood against norms that trap us in limited boxes of “feminine” self expression,” she says in her note.

*Shah’s work is an exercise in introspection of the past, and how far along the society has come, and the path forward.*

Tejal Shah’s ‘Hysteria’, on the other hand, explored the classical art trope of the ‘mad woman in the attic’ – symbolizing the Victorian perceptions of the woman as an emotional being, incapable of rational thought. Present in classics such as Jane Eyre, the trope is popularly used by feminist critics to highlight the multi-layered oppression that subliminally indoctrinated within the individual. The series show the male dominance manifest in discourses such as psychology and literature before the waves of feminisim that has brought about a much needed change and crafted space for women to enter and widen the structure of knowledge.

“I am happy to see a wide variety of representation of women in the event. It is crucial for our voices to be heard for the society to move towards inclusivity. One must understand the importance of counter-discourse as a driving force,” says Akshaya Mohan, a former research fellow at Christ University, Bengaluru. With at least 18 independent women artists and a few collectives with women members participating, the Biennale has already become a space for discussing gender and questioning the existing gender norms.

Universal Emotions at the 6th International Short Film Festival

Anand JC

Chennai, Feb 22: At the 6^thChennai International Short Film yesterday, Qube Cinema founder and film director Jayendra Panchapakesan, said that the filmmakers often lose their way in trying to capture the essence of the rationality in their films.

Talking to many young filmmakers present about how to draw in the audience into the movies, Jayendra said that the filmmakers need to tap-in on some universal emotions. “For example, when shooting a school sequence, we can show how the school kids walk to school but as soon as the bell rings they fly out of the school. It’s the same everywhere, so capture those emotions.”

“Non-sync kills the reality of film. I see a sequence without sync between the sound and the video and I look away,” Jayendra said when one film enthusiast asked what is the biggest problem in cinema nowadays.

Jayendra was present for the celebrity interaction session on the sixth day of the festival. Among the films screened was ‘The Rehabilitation’, a 12-min short film based on a middle-class family of four in a city in Tamil Nadu.

Director Navaraj S shows the family in a house engaged in their routines engrossed in gizmos. Suddenly there is a power cut and the family assembles for snacks when the father starts explaining about a ritual in his village that his grandfather had told him about. The other members listen closely but as soon as the power comes back, family goes about their routine activities, while the story remains in the dark. While the story line was fine, the sequence where the light comes back is too abrupt and fails to convey the point in a cohesive manner.

Itwaar is a 15-min film about a middle-aged man in a city plagued by health and family issues. Director Rahul Srivastava portrays how a single turn in an event can change the perspective, mood and the frame of mind of a person in to something really different. The film is shot really well and keeps the audience captivated till the end.

The Light of Life is a Bangladeshi movie about a poor handloom weaver hell bent on providing education to the other less fortunate people of Bangladesh. Akbar Ali, owner of Projonmo Night School is of the opinion that it is illiteracy which is responsible for the current state of Bangladesh.

Some other worth-watching films which were screened are Thatha’s Secret in Tamil (Indian), Good Day (Russian), Talk to me Precious in Tamil (Indian), Dreamers of Breswana in English and Hindi(Indian) and The Exchange (Turkish).

CRIME DAIRIES: PHONE SNATCHING TO SUICIDE

DEEKSHA SHYAM SUNDAR

CHENNAI: While Adyar, one of the city’s more posh localities, mostly witnesses mobile phone and chain snatching incidents, Kotturpuram, with 22 educational institutions under its ambit, has witnessed a spike in suicides among college students, say local police officials.

Assistant Commissioner D A Raveendran, at the Adyar Police Station, says that people in this locality, where real estate prices are anything between 7,400 – 20,600 per square feet, tend to have expensive phones, which they’re careless about. Hence, it is easy to snatch them even in broad daylight. He adds that incidents of chain-snatching are also commonly reported.

Quite recently, the Adyar police arrested a man named Ajith Kumar in connection with five incidents of phone-snatching in just three days. Upon investigation, as many as 15 phones were recovered from him, says ACP Raveendran.

However, in Kotturpuram Police Station, under the jurisdiction of which there are seven colleges/universities, including the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Anna University, reports of student suicides have risen, says Police Constable Vazhivittan.

In fact, he says that two suicide cases were reported in IIT Madras this month alone, one of which was just past Monday.

He blames the negative effects of film-viewing for the increase of petty crimes and disturbances by youngsters, particularly final year college students and some uneducated people of similar ages around Kotturpuram.

“Movies show that if you beat people up on the streets, if you’re rowdy, or if you beat up a policeman, you’re a hero.”

To combat this problem, the police hold seminars and awareness programmes in schools and colleges. Especially children in the NSS (National Service Scheme) and NCC (National Cadet Corps) are involved in a programme where they interact with traffic policemen and help in managing traffic for a day. “This teaches them to be law-abiding citizens since they see the amount of work that goes into law enforcement.”