‘We are not the Others’ – Transgender painters of Sahodari Foundation exhibit art in Bangalore
The transgender artists of Sahodari Foundation participated and showcased their beautiful artworks at an exhibition organised by the foundation in the Bangalore International Centre, located in Domlur, Bengaluru. Around 25 artists from the transgender community showcased their paintings in a show aptly titled ” Pride: We are not the Others”.
“I am excited about the show,” says Santhiya. “This is the first time I am exhibiting my art in Bangalore for people to see. Coming to Bengaluru always excites me because the cultural scene here is very vibrant. It is a happening city,” says Santhiya.
The show exhibited abstract, surrealism, cubism, and pop art paintings.
“We are Not the Others” is an exhibition of artworks and paintings by transgender painters of India. The event is curated by transgender artist and activist Kalki Subramaniam (www.kalkisubramaniam.com), an artist herself who has trained transgender persons to practice art through the foundation. The event will display acrylic, surrealist, and pop art paintings. Visitors can buy artworks to support transgender artists.
Thirty percent of the sales of Kalki Subramaniam’s artworks will benefit and empower the education of young and poor transgender persons. The opening event inauguration happened on February 5th at 6 pm. President of the Inner Wheel Club of Bangalore, Ms. Prema, will inaugurate the exhibition. The guest of honor of the event is artist and theatre personality Padmashri. Arundathi Nag.
On the same opening day event, on Feb 5th around 7.15 pm, transgender artist and activist Kalki Subramaniam performed Art play named ‘Phallus, I Cut. The performance was a solo act of body movement with colours and poetry. ‘Phallus, I Cut’ is a poem by Kalki Subramaniam, which has been transitioned into a performance of art. The act will challenge the stereotyped gender norms existing about trans and gender queer identities.
On Feb 6th and 7th during the mornings and afternoons, there were several workshops available free of cost for the transgender community, workshops include : Introduction to Photography, Abstract painting workshop, Flow painting workshop, motivation workshop, Madhubhani Art workshop and Story Telling Workshop.
For the first time, a virtual reality art exhibition of Kalki’s past pop artworks is also included as a experience using Oculus glasses within the gallery. This exhibition is supported by Shimeraa Visual Studio. Another highlight of the evening, many artworks and stories exhibited in the gallery space gave the viewer an extended interactive experience through the UniteAR App, adding voice, video and movement to the images on the wall. Viewers can experience this Augmented Reality using their mobile phones when they install UniteAR App.
We used AR and VR technologies to tell our stories of joy and pain, hope and loss, success and failure in the show. On Feb 7th at 8 pm, the exhibition closes. The event is sponsored by Inner Wheel Club of Bangalore.
