Memorializing Acts Against Gender Violence in South Asia through Visual Portraits

Abstract

In this essay, as a visual art practitioner and scholar of gender violence in India, I discuss three visual portraits of South Asian women as records of activism against institutionalized gender violence in South Asian cultures. These artists use their diverse artistic styles to memorialize intersectional violence in three categories of violence namely, caste violence, tribal violence, and dowry violence. They not only use the digital platform to mobilize solidarity against these forms of oppression but also transform conventional exhibition spaces and art-viewing into movement-building exercises against gender violence. Through their art, these artists (Priyanka Paul, Portia Roy, and Kruttika Susarala) aim to build a dialogue on gender violence, caste oppression, and oppression against Indigenous people, and build solidarity among all women across borders and nationalities.