Explore the highs and lows of queer experiences with Vichitra Desh – Queer Nation. The program was engendered in association with the University of California Feminist Studies Department, The Orfalea Center and The American Center, and supported by the US Embassy in New Delhi. It is a sumptuous tapestry of interdisciplinary art and fantasy, theory and praxis that amalgamates visual and performance art, social science research, life stories, and activist ephemera.
Since time immemorial, queerness was a celebration; a virtue even gods participated in. It was only in recent times that the legal jargon cornered sexual and gender identity. On 17th October 2023, the SCI delivered a verdict excluding queer individuals from the purview of marriage. Suffice it to say, it caused a major uproar throughout the Indian subcontinent. The only option – fight and educate. And there is nothing better than doing the same at an art show. Vichitra Desh is programmed in two parts: an exhibition and a symposium titled Qonclave. Both are hosted at the remarkable Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Center, New Delhi from Nov 2nd -5th.
Exhibition
The exhibition features over 30+ global artists from India, Pakistan, the USA, England, Germany, Argentina, Iran, Brazil, Mauritius & South Africa whose work envisions the aesthetic possibilities through a queer feminist postcolonial gaze centred around the Global South. The gates would remain open to the public starting November 2nd from 7 PM onwards. Be sure to check out one-time performances scheduled for November 4th. They boast of a diverse and eclectic mix of visual, installation, and performance works.
The exhibition takes inspiration from popular culture, epic myth, histories of orientalism, science fiction, climate change, literature and religion and visual iconographies. It includes a diverse cross-section of mediums including drawings, paintings, embroidered canvas, technology, photography, sculpture and print, new media digital collages, AI art, illustrations, graphic novels and films. The oeuvre portrays the vulnerability of love and loss, essential to queer life
The curator of the exhibition, Myna Mukherjee lends her artistic and conceptual vision to the event. In addition, guest curators – Isha Yadav, Adwait Singh, Georgina Maddox, and Karthik Kalyanaraman will also voice their unique perspectives. You will witness the following artists in their natural habitat.
- T Venkanna
- Bhupen Khakhar
- Puneet Kaushik
- Amin Gulgee
- Valay Gada
- Anindita Bhattacharya
- Raghava KK
- Balbir Krishan
- Satyakam Saha
- Rajat Sharma
- Jake Elwes
- Harshit Agarwal
- Christiaan Diedricks
- Santiago Estellano
- Satadru Sovan
- Jijo Kuriakose
- Mandakini
- Adil Kalim
- Daina Mohapatra
- Avril Stormy Unger
- Vanita Sethi
- Ahsan Masood
- Sawan Taank
- Aamir Rabbani
- Alafiya Hasan
- Arvin Ombika
- Babak Haghi
- Soek
- Isha Yadav
- Sandeepta Das
- Jit & Rima
- Subrat Kumar
- Matthew Richardson
- Raphael Couto
- Sandeep TK
- Kayan
- Nandini Moitra
- Satyakam Saha
Qonclave (Symposium)
Qonclave, the second part of Vichitra Desh is a queer symposium scheduled for November 4th. It features over 20 thought leaders, cultural practitioners, activists, academics, DJs, designers, chefs etc. who will share convergences of theory, aesthetics, & the art market, and speak to the residues of embedded historical and activist narratives. Their collective wisdom act as a bridge conjuncting the dense past, the pulsating contemporary and queer futures.
This symposium brings together pioneering thought leaders to deliberate upon the legal, ethical, and religious dimensions of desire, bodily autonomy, and human rights in hopes of creating public spaces for dialogue and dissent, friendship, solidarity and a broader commitment to each other’s work-a shared affinity that is deeply implicated in each of their practices, research and cultural work.
Myna Mukherjee and Prof. Debanuj Dasgupta fulfill the role of co-conveners. The following speakers are invited to share their experiences and reflect on some of the most talked-about events in queer history.
- Alexander Cho (Assistant Professor, UCSB Asian American Studies Department)
- Adwait Singh (Curator)
- Anugyan Nag (Assistant Professor, AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia)
- Debanuj Dasgupta (Assistant Professor of Feminist Studies, UCSB)
- Dhritabrata Bhattacharjya Tato (writer, curator and cultural historian)
- Dhruv Oberoi (Executive Chef, Olive Bar & Kitchen)
- DJ Tikka (DJ, Producer, Sound Designer, Visualist)
- Jhuma Sen (Supreme Court lawyer)
- Karthik Kalyanaraman (Critic, Cofounder 64/1, Educator & Economist)
- Georgina Maddox (Art critic, curator)
- Isha Yadav (Assistant Professor, University of Delhi)
- Maya Awasthy (Founder of Transgender Welfare Equity and Empowerment Trust (TWEET) Foundation)
- Mamatha Karolil (Assistant Professor, Psychology, Ambedkar University)
- Manish Sharma (BoyZone Delhi)
- Matthew Richardson (Graduate Director, Feminist Studies at UCSB)
- Niharika Banerjee (Professor, Jindal Global Law School, OP Jindal Global University)
- Niranjan Kunwar (MS.Ed from CUNY and teaching experiences in the New York City public school system)
- Rima & Jit Ray (Mad Earth Design)
- Anjali Gopalan (Human rights activist, Executive Director, The Naz Foundation)
- Rishnitt Heera (Cofounder – supernova.art)
- Sandeepta Das (House of Odd, Performance Group)
- Shahzeda Khurram (Art advisor, Director, Partition Museum, New Delhi)
- Sumit Baudh (Professor and Executive Director, Centre of Public Law, OP Jindal Global University)
- Surbhi Goel (Assistant Professor, Department of English and Cultural Studies Faculty of Languages, Punjab University)
- Vivek Mansukhani (Head, Institute of International Education, India)
Photo Courtesy – Aamir Rabbani
How Bhupen Khakhar came out as gay through his painting ‘You Can’t Please All’
