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What I’ve always admired and also envied is artists’ very special ability to visualise and communicate thoughts, experiences and emotions that us plebs struggle to put into words. We often underestimate the real power that art and culture have over our lives. Art has always been used to inadvertently hold up a mirror to society, whether to make us introspect, protest or celebrate.
And with such great power comes great responsibility, and the artistic tool has often used to subvert authoritarian societal narratives. There seems to be a wave of hysterics, bordering manic jingoism that follows any questioning of our government. Despite being quashed time and again, slapped with sedition and ‘anti-national’ FIR’s, dissent continues through a variety of mediums, one of them being subversive art. But how do you make people critically think about and question their reality when the easier route is blissful ignorance?
Here is where the use of humour comes in. Mumbai-based visual artist and illustrator Adrita Das stands as a prime example of using wit, humour and pop culture perfectly in sync, making viewers question the very values and principles that the system has put in place. Relating current affairs with iconic people and objects of the past; meme and GIF’s that contemplate modern Indian feminism – her artworks are as memorable as they are humorous.
“When the common man looks at a subversive artwork, he is instantly reminded of the institutions that subconsciously control him, like the government, religion, ideology, ancestry, surveillance. However, in the process of laughing at the same, he is granted the power to imagine himself as the one in control. All men are created equal; if not in this world then in the infinite possibilities of art itself,” wrote Das regarding one of her creations, titled ‘The Last Supper of Democracy’.
“It made sense that Modi was at the centre of it all, Amit Shah on his right, Arnab Goswami to his left dramatically swinging his arm. I happened to find photographs of people involved in politics and media at the time with poses quite similar to the actual artwork and thought it would be a shame to not put it together,” said Das over email.
Alluding to Leonardo da Vinci’s infamous painting of Jesus Christ with his apostles, instead, here we have Narendra Modi featuring as the holy figure surrounded by powerful personalities of India – not his disciples exactly, but allies, critics, commentators and opponents. The collage showcases the likes of Mukesh Ambani, Rahul Gandhi, Raghuram Rajan, Baba Ramdev and Arvind Kejriwal, among others, all of whom play and have played key roles in the functioning (or lack thereof) of our democracy (or lack thereof).
We don’t live in the easiest of times when it comes to freedom of expression and speech. Critics and commentators of those in power are almost instantly shot down and trolled for voicing their opinions. But are Indian more open to such a discussion and critical commentary, with art being a more digestible medium? “I wouldn’t say it is easy even now, as people are highly sensitive about the smallest of things and don’t appreciate satire/parody/commentary as such. Although adding a bit of humour goes a long way in making the artwork more accessible to the masses, given that people are more likely to share it and pass it off as ‘just jokes’,” says Das.
“I think there is a fine line of humour that one must self-assess and then take a stand- if they are willing to stand up for it, then it should be out there. I do think at artists censor most work themselves as they are often quite critical of what would be well received and what not. At the end of the day, I feel that I do want to make jokes at the expense of others and in a way that is altruistic- and so I didn’t spare anyone, including myself.”
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