How artist Avinash Karn uses Madhubani art to initiate dialogue on communal and caste divides in India

Unperturbed by criticism, every day, sisters Saleha Sheikh and Sajiya Bushra undertake a 30-minute-long walk from their village Sheikh Toli in Bihar’s Madhubani to reach another village in the district - Ranti. In the alleys of Ranti, the girls head to ArtBole to learn the intricacies of Madhubani or Mithila painting from artist Avinash Karn. ArtBole is the art studio established by Karn in Ranti. Pursuing graduation from JMDPL Mahila College, the sisters had never thought of learning the art form. Today they know about mixing the pigments, can fill colours in a figure, and have a basic understanding of the art form. This was the first phase of the community arts project led by Karn in collaboration with Artreach India, a non-profit organisation that aims to transform the young lives from disadvantaged sections of the society through art. Saleha Sheikh, Sajiya Bushra, Sarwari Begum, Rahmati Khatoon Sameema now eagerly await for the second phase to kick off soon. The girls will then start painting these stories on canvas. [caption id=“attachment_9612821” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  L to R: Rahmati Khatoon, Sajiya Bushra, Saleha Sheikh[/caption] Mithila painting was once the domain of upper-caste artists. Over time, quite a few Dalit women artists also took to it and incorporated themes relevant to their lives. Dulaari Devi who belongs to the mallah community, was awarded the Padma Shri earlier this year. However, it is still not very usual for muslim women to learn Mithila painting. This makes this initiative compelling. “There are challenges for these girls to learn painting. It is not easy. One of them told me that the neighbours criticised when they took a painting home. I believe there are certain restrictions associated with painting but their parents are so supportive. That’s why I admire their guts, passion and commitment. The art form of Mithila needs such diverse perspectives,” states Karn. Apart from five muslim girls, two girls from the Hindu community — Snehlata and Hemlata — are also part of the project. [caption id=“attachment_9612911” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Avinash Karn with his students[/caption] Karn didn’t plunge headlong into the technical aspects of the art. Instead, he chose to focus on identifying the subject matter and visualising them. This also imparted a sense of purpose to the participants who in turn engaged with the activity more enthusiastically. 20 year old Sarwari Begum feels strongly about the growing polarisation in the country and created a storyline along these lines. Sarwari depicted Hindu and Muslim folks celebrating Eid. “There are so many things in our society which need to be spoken and painting seems to be the best way to express those issues. I want to document and express all those things through art. I never thought that I could learn to do this,” excitedly says the third year graduation student. [caption id=“attachment_9612841” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Rahmati’s painting where she shows a woman pulling a rickshaw, reflecting physical power and independence.[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_9612851” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Saleha’s painting where she portrays herself as a beautician who is financially independent[/caption] Apart from communalism, Sarwari has also worked on the subject of alcoholism and unemployment. “It is a huge problem in our villages. Men drink and misbehave with women. We see it all around us. We are not able to say anything, at least we can paint and express our objection to it,” feels Sarwari. Nudged by Karn, the girls took note of other societal ills like dowry, gender inequality and girls’ education. “Our approach to Madhubani is contemporary so we steered clear of traditional subjects. We initially thought of working on the poetry of Kabir and Lal Ded, but realised it will be too dense for them at this stage and told them to look around for issues that affect them. They contemplated, observed their surroundings and came back with different stories. We discussed the male gaze — how men stare at them. One of them shared a story of a girl who died due to cervical cancer. She felt ashamed to get this cancer and didn’t disclose it to anyone until the last stage. Though we didn’t work on this story, discussions like these gave them a starting point,” explains the young artist. Karn then helped the participants to visualise the stories. They drew sketches which will be eventually painted on the canvas. “At this stage the idea really was to help them ideate and visualise. In the next phase which will be three month long, they will be taught to paint on the canvas,” he says further. [caption id=“attachment_9612871” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Work in progress: A Madhubani painting[/caption] Saleha and Sajiya had never painted but always felt drawn to this art form. “We never found anyone who could teach us Mithila painting and when someone told me about Avinash sir, I was only too happy,” says Sajiya, who is in second year of BCom. She has worked on the subject of girls’ education during the workshop. Her younger sister Saleha also intends to work on the subject of gender inequality. After Eid, the sisters plan to finish these works in the second phase. “Till now we have learnt how to mix colours, nuances of lines as they are very crucial in Madhubani and also how to fill colours in the figure. We will learn the technical aspects in-depth in the next session,” says Saleha. The girls learning the nuances of Madhubani painting are blessed with supportive parents. Saleha and Sajiya’s father runs a shop of electronics and encourages her children to study further. Saleha says he wants her to do CA and practice Madhubani art alongside. [caption id=“attachment_9612901” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Sarwari Begum and Sameema[/caption] Art practitioner and Director of Artreach India, Ita Mehrotra shares the objective of this project: “This initiative to engage long term with young Muslim women in Ranti village, is unique in that it is able to surpass Hindu-Muslim, and caste divisions, which are only sharpening in India at the moment. Through painting, storytelling and looking at the works of inspiring artists and writers who have embraced diversity and secularism. I think Avinash Karn is creating a unique environment where Madhubani enters contemporary explorations and gets new meaning, but also participants are able to make original work, often from lived experiences, with confidence and have their voices heard.” Karn wants to solve another problem through this workshop which is to expand the pool of contemporary Madhubani artists. According to him, there are very few practitioners of contemporary Madhubani painting which hinders the evolution of the art form. “I am also developing my studio ArtBole for commercial activities. Once these girls develop the skills, we can sell from the online store and also do commissioned works. I need artists to work on projects, they can collaborate with me,” Karn says. If things turned out as planned it could be a win-win situation for all.