FEAR & GENDER

Workshop_Don't perch, take flight

2009-02-24T06:35:00.000-08:00

An interactive workshop using the medium of story telling, conversations and origami; attempting to make children understand the importance of speaking out when they see something bad happening around them and actively executing their opinions.

Pushpi Bagchi

http://www.slideshare.net/srishtiupload/dont-perch-take-flightinteractive-workshop

When 200 turned up to Say 'I am'

2009-02-18T19:09:00.001-08:00

The turn out was much more than we expected and all of us understood the power of Facebook. The walk was beautiful and joyful, no one tried to break the peace. So many people joined us as we walked and even the police were extremely supportive.

However we realized the web as a mobilizing tool is successful for only one section of society. What will it take to get people from all sections of society to fight for their right to declare their own culture? And how can we stop looking at only political parties as the threat, when actually the issue of losing our right to chose our own culture exists in every aspect of daily life?

Say I am -A performative walk

2009-02-05T23:58:00.000-08:00

In light of the recent violence that took place against women in Mangalore and the statements that were made thereafter, its time to say, I am. Indian culture is being defined, strained and subverted by many elements other than ourselves. In an attempt to induce the spirit of freedom, choice and non-violence we invite people from all spheres to join us on a walk on Sunday, the 8th of February, 4 pm onwards. “I am an Indian, this is my culture” is the initial adopted slogan that we hope people will wear in the form of tags or banners. The walk will start from Rest House Road Park, through brigade road, MG road and end at Cubbon Park. There will be two stops on the way, one at Levis Square on brigade road and the other at Barton centre on MG road. During these pauses (that will last about 5 to 10 minutes) and at the end of the walk at Cubbon Park every participant will get into any position that they feel most free in (sit/stand/lean/crouch/lie etc.) as a symbol of disapproval of the occurrence of violence and curbing the freedom of expression. We speak of development and progress, but the struggle for basic freedom and acts of appalling violence, raise the question- Where is India headed? Join us to collectively declare our diverse culture.

Please also confirm your presence on our facebook event group : http://www.facebook.com/editphoto.php?oid=123325230553&success=1&failure=0#/event.php?eid=123325230553

Protest against the Mangalore event

2009-02-03T21:45:00.000-08:00

We don’t need no “Moral policing” We don’t need no “Mind control” The protest started around 4 45 in the evening on Tuesday. Even though the turn out consisted of about thirty people (inclusive of men and women), the combined efforts of slogans and banners, made this an impact-full evening! On the mahatma Gandhi signal as many protested “violence against women” and demanded for “freedom of choice”, we asked the people in cars and autos who stopped at the signal what their stand was on the Mangalore attacks. If they agreed that what happened was wrong we’d give them a pink post-it which was stuck somewhere on the wind shield of the vehicle so that people could see that they supported the cause. Pink post-its soon became a symbol of violence against women for the evening. Most number of vehicles supported the cause, even though certain anti elements condemned the same stand: “Good! It served them right! They shouldn’t have been there.” –said a woman to Mana just before rolling her window up. “We don’t face this problem, our sisters and daughters never go out to pubs; even they shouldn’t have gone, I don’t now about right and wrong but I don’t see any reason why I should support those “kind” of women who go to pubs and get drunk.” Similarly an auto man explained to Urmila. “The intention of the men who beat the girls wasn’t wrong, their intention was right; maybe their approach was wrong.” Another auto man said to Pushpi being unsure of the stand he wanted to take. Other than the few negative remarks most people were more than happy to have this sign of support on their cars or autos and also many encouraged this cause more than willingly.
By Huda

2009-02-03T21:31:00.000-08:00

Protest against the attacks on women in Mangalore

2009-02-03T20:37:00.000-08:00

Automen in yelahanka by Pushpi and Huda

2009-02-03T20:13:00.000-08:00

Our initial aim was to familiarise ourselves with at least a few of the automen within yelahanka as a starting point for future projects that may be able to improve transport situations in the area. We stared by asking Pramod automan (at the sharavati bus stand) which place according to him would be a nice place for students to go in yelahanka. After long thought he deciding the only two places worth going were bhagini restuarant and the huge parks near sterling apartments. He even drew out a map of how one could get there :

Automen in Yelahanka

2009-02-03T19:49:00.000-08:00

2009-02-03T19:41:00.000-08:00

Talking to auto men...

2009-02-02T05:50:00.000-08:00

Huda and I (Pushpi) had an interesting afternoon talking to a few auto men that we could find. Our first auto driver was a man named Raju. We told him that we were doing a photography course and would he mind if we took a picture of him in his auto and if he liked we would print the picture and give it to him the following day. It turned out that he's not from here but had come with someone all the way from JP nagar which is in aouth Bangalore. We took a picture anyway and while walking away I heard him tell another auto driver next to him that their bill by now would've eadily gone up to 300 rupees since they were waiting for their passengers to come.

We then walked up to the auto stand opposite Sharavati and saw a long line of autos but no drivers except one. We tried telling this man the same thing about us and whether we could take a picture of him with his auto. He pretended to not understand anything we were saying as we were talking in hindi and kept shaking his head. We gave up after 10 minutes or so as he was clearly not interested and all teh other drivers had gonr for their lunch break!

I then took an auto home from the road opposite reliance fresh. The guy charged me 40 rupees till Heritage which is the standard rate from there. On reaching the gate i asked him if i could take his picture with his auto. He agreed and even told me what angle to take it from! He also told me to take his number and call him whenever I needed an auto. He seemed nice enough. His name is Pramod.

By Pushpi and Huda

Radha: 1Shanti Road final Exhibition, Bangalore, India

2009-01-31T02:50:00.000-08:00

The culmination of two hard weeks of work by Srishti School of Art students in collaboration with the visiting artists was amazing. The spontaneous show of the installation with fabric, photos, video, sound and live participation with electric and inspiring. The students never expected such a big crowd to show up. The press was there in full attendance and I must thank Kala from Srishti for sending out letters to the press and inviting them to the show. I want to thank Mrs Geetha Narayanan our director for her support in making this workshop happen. I want to thank our students Tanuja, Pushpi, Urmilla, Swati, Saeema, Mrinalini, Anushka, Sumona, Huda, Sauntouni, Elena and Priyanka for doing a great job and also completely enjoying the whole process. I hope you all will be able to use all that you experienced in your final project.

I thank all the Artists who participated, coordinated and gave everything they had for this workshop.Zeenath for starting this workshop without Veronica here. Karoline, Liz, Ana, Vera, Richard, the Maara group, Vinayak, Archana all of these artists gave so much of their time and energy into this project.

Love you all very much. Again many many thanks and we hope to see you end of the year to continue on this project.

Hair braiding at Cubbon Park

2009-01-28T02:28:00.000-08:00

Another attempt at feminising the male dominant areas of Cubbon Park. We went around with ribbons and asked people if they would like us to braid their hair. We approached some men and asked them if they would like to do the same for their girlfriend/ sister/ mother.

Interepreting Fear

2009-01-27T10:53:00.000-08:00

The inspiration for such intereprataions were drawn from the apporach Ana Paula Albe has taken in her landscape shots of crevices. It just motivated me to see things differently, how to obsereve what we tend to miss regularly. I was walking around the streets and noticed these postered walls, which have been repeatedly and over a period of time been scartched and textured. Just lured me completely, hence made me look at it beyond colours and forms. I was able to discover forms and shapes within them. I could find feelings and emotions, hence i decided to interepret fear through these frames.

Priyanka

Radha:India is celebrating its 60th Republic Day and nothing has changed in the last 60 years

2009-01-26T06:07:00.000-08:00

I love my students who are participating in the Fear and Gender workshop. They are courageous and gorgeous young women with a lot of fire in their belly's specially to stand up for their rights in this fast changing India. India is changing but not the right way for our young women.

I am sure that all of you have seen the news that young women were beaten up in a pub and the pub was vandalized by "Moral police" in Mangalore town of India. These so called "Moral Police" were objecting to the women being in the pubs period. This is there way of protesting against the moral degradation of Indian values in young women. I as an Indian woman, I am ashamed to say that we have these so called "Moral Police" in India are all men!

India is celebrating her 60th Republic Day today, the day when India adopted her constitution and therefore a symbol of her emancipation.......... but it will be a long time before she becomes free of bigotry and mindless prejudices. Good job all of you. Love you

Radha

Shivaji Nagar- performance, experience, interaction

2009-01-25T23:49:00.000-08:00

We were a group of 8 people. There were a set of tasks we had to perform sequentially at various locations within the bus stop. We had set up an sms group so at each stage we received messages about the next step via sms.

We started of by forming a circle at the entrance and looking at each other in silence. We then split up and went about the station asking people how they said the word woman in their respective languages. We met again at the entrance, stood in a circle sort of facing outwards and shouted out the different translations of 'woman'. At this point the gentleman at the enquiry asked us to leave but we carried on anyways. This task was sort of a warm up, preparing us for the more challenging tasks to come. Sayantani, was the most enthusiastic at this stage and gave the rest of the group some courage to carry on.

We then proceeded to the abandoned pedestrian subway, standing there really gives a feeling of being at the heart of Shivaji Nagar. We distributed some newspapers to sit on and some paper and pens to write with. The task was to create a word collage of anything we could hear, smell, see, imagine sitting there in silence. This was pretty meditative and helped us focus ourselves. We left the sheets tacked to the wall and went up to a shut off entry on the other side of the street, its connected to the Shivaji Nagar station via the pedestrian subway. Its a bit like a cage in the middle of the road. We tried mirroring the people outside, watching them as they watched us. Not all of us felt good about this exercise, as the men on the other side of the cage seemed to enjoy the attention. We felt a bit too vulnerable by the end of it. Still it was worth a shot!

We went back to subway. At this point we had caught the attention of the sweeper woman who told us that no man would dare to touch her, as she would beat him with her broom. She and her friends stood by and watched our next action. We formed a circle and hit a note together, gathering all the energy we could from the sound and ran full speed down the subway, up the ramp and burst onto the platform. We ran to the middle of the station and all eight of us jumped and shook ourselves- it was quite a sight and quite a feeling! A policeman came and blew his whistle but he just started laughing so we didn't stop. We thought we would anger a few people through this action but it was very joyful and everyone who watched us had a smile on their face- especially the old women and the kids. One young man was asked why he thought we were doing this. He actually said he thought it was our way of retaliating against what men do to women.

The next set of action really pushed us beyond our comfort zones leaving us exhilarated - the same crazy feeling that you get after a good improvisation!

Armed with a rag, some Colin and a glass of water we each occupied one bench along the length of a platform. First we scrubbed and cleaned the bench. A lot of us were incredibly uncomfortable with this. I remembered the sweeper women while doing this. A lady told Mrinalini that she was too beautiful too be cleaning benches. This action catalyzed a lot of discussions about caste and colour between the public and us. Most people were pleasantly surprised. we then went up to random men in the station and asked them if they wanted a glass of water. we thought this might be a good gesture to begin with but were surprised to find that no one accepted. We the asked them a set of questions "think of one important woman in your life (everyone thought of their mother!). What is her favourite place in Bangalore? Which bus goes there? Can you take me to the bus? I will close my eyes."

Sayantani met a policeman who agreed to accompany her but asked her to keep her eyes open. Swati was very surprised to find how carefully the man she met took her to the bus. A man who didn’t know where he was going himself led Urmila and they had a long conversation about the relationship between men and women in public spaces. The reaction I got from the man i approached was " please don't ask me to take you. The bus is right here!" I found at first that I was only willing to ask one kind of man- someone closer to my class perhaps, someone who was not clearly religious etc. but I pushed my self to step out of my boundaries.

That was the end of the day’s activities. we found out that not all men are monsters. That fear in public spaces is more about a perception of danger rather than dangerous situations. And that we need to create creative, public ways of opening up dialogue between the sexes. All it took was two hours and at the end of it we felt pretty battered but in some way sort of liberated!

Sumona

2009-01-25T11:24:00.000-08:00

These 'off limit' spaces for women, are really, some uncomfortable zones. I have just reaffirmed this feeling after spending a great amount of time in alleys of shivaji nagar, where men gawked till I could disappear, at bars where the smoke was of no help to fade my presence, beedi shops where men still think only they can smoke! What really worried me was how in this world can i actually get a good shot in these places? All i could do was quickly point and shoot, considering my camera is an D-SLR it almost was impossible. People were threatened, to see me with a camera, to a point that there were 3 different occasions when I was confronted and asked to delete pictures. These spaces are just dominated by men most often, they dont all have activities which would make women uncomfortable. The prominence and establishment of men being there always is among the many reasons I discovered about off limit spaces.
(this post will continue)

Thanks
Priyanka

We, the people

2009-01-22T09:50:00.000-08:00

Images from the first venue

2009-01-22T09:24:00.000-08:00

Fear and Gender

2009-01-22T09:15:00.000-08:00

Fear to me is like a threat.
Its an emotion that is created through various personal experiences.
Its a strange struggle that one has to deal with.
Its an insecurity that I feel.
For me, safety in fear, is only in defence.

I believe in Vinayak Das's proposal Off Limits. I understand the basic intention of imagery is for one to stop and observe. Also understanding the space and the mood that builds around it. The reason why I like Das's project is so that I can understand the spaces around me alot more then I did before. The fears I have encountered before have made me not want to visit spaces that I was most comfortable with. I believe that in doing this project, one can not only conquer fear and insecurities but also understand the level of others perception.

Sayantoni Palchoudhuri

Self Portrait

2009-01-22T09:10:00.000-08:00

reaching out. uninhibited. liberated. free expression. mirror image.

memories. transition. frames. images.

russelmarket

2009-01-21T23:47:00.000-08:00

Pusphi is helping to treat a needle

the boys who live above russelmarket

for some it's just time-passing

for others they stay till the end...

smoking a sigaret

on the phone

and helping us stitch the map

multitasking!!

Huda is helping the stitchers

he must have stitched 3

we set the table at the hang out place of russelmarket

she just came to see

Elena's post

2009-01-21T23:38:00.000-08:00

Reflection on my days up till now Elena Pereira

15.01.09 Coles park 4.30-6.15 LIZ
‘Bangalore is my heart’ (a men)
‘The city is a peaceful place”. (a men)
My house (needs change) because it’s such a boring place’ (14 year old boy). (marked 6 symbols on map)
Than the same boy who said this comes back next day. With an excuse or reason that he always has his lunch here (mc Donald’s). Or maybe or map was not so boring as his house J
Mc Donald’s is a happy place for him because he says that everyday he get’s 200 Rs from which he saves 100 Rs en for 100 Rs he enjoys his lunch at MacDonald’s.
Many people asked for Lal Bagh and hey find this the best peaceful and sacred place of Bangalore. It’s not on the map so we let them embroider off the map.
I was wondering why the women don’t really come to see are they not interested or afraid? Of interacting in public spaces with strangers?

15.01.09 Blind walking workshop ANA
We had to walk with the eyes closed in the house and outside on the streets. I must say that I found walking in the house with my eyes clothes guided by Swati more uncomfortable then when she guided me on the streets although the streets had traffic sounds and stones. I felt more claustrophobic inside where outside I felt relieved after a while that I didn’t have to look out for traffic but just see 3 frames where she let me open my eyes. The first was inside a furniture shop, which I didn’t expect at all because I thought I was outside. And then A frame inside where I saw a butterfly chair. And then she guided me inside an Atm where the air-conditioning shocked me. Out on the streets again I felt relieved.

16.01.09 Sigma Mall morning 10-2 LIZ
Again mostly men came to participate I think I know why. Women never go alone to malls endless they have a goal to pick up something but hanging out/relaxing is done with friends inside with food or drinks. For men it’s different they hang around outside look at people and need to pass some time.
And are happy to participate mostly groups with boys love the stitching and the whole energy around the table. And just hang around. Children are also scared for the newcomers (us) with there funny questions.‘college is a good place’ Most people marked smile’s for there college.
‘Missing the nightlife around MG road’
The hart of Bangalore is where ? MG!!!!!!
Most asked question today = What’s the use????

16.01.09 afternoon Meeting on Cunningham road about the body and technology
Interesting meeting where we made connections between the feminine side of technology which leads to transparency. Body’s who didn’t have access to technology get access to technology by technology one of those reasons is globalization. Our body’s have become addicted to technology. The cell phones and laptops are becoming extensions of ourselves.

18.01.09 Cubon park 2-6.30 KAROLINE intervention!
A men came up to me and asked me to cut off his religious string around his wrist and dropped it on the floor.
He had taken a string of wool of each color and wanted me to tie this around his hand the colors in which the park was colored by the strings of fabric and wool which where hung. Then I picked up the string he dropped on the floor took a bangle and hung it on the fabric. The men all started laughing …
One beggar guy kept coming and it looked as he was begging to me. But he was not he wanted the bangle with the string to tie it in the air. Ones he tied it in the air he laughed. He must have asked me for 15 bangles to hang.
Begging for bangles to hang.
I didn’t asked people to do anything without talking I just went up to them and put it in their hands. But most people had been observing and where happy I came to them because I think they where to shy to get fabric or strings themselves but waited for us to interact wit them.
One lady in a sari who didn’t speak but kept on laughing tying the black fabric in the air and weaving it through the others trying to get her kids and husband to join.

19.01.09 Russell Market 9.30-12 LIZ
People are just watching us. Somewhere we blend in with the colors of the market.
I loved the interaction with the children who lived above Russell Market.
They where so enthusiastic and loved the game of embroidering stars next to the map. Maybe 3 out of the 6 children took it serious. with the questions and symbols. And they market the place where they lives which was mostly Russell market or shivaji nagar. Then they market where they would go alone in the night which was the movie theatre. And an area was market with the dark moon because the kids had heard that a lot of murders happen in that area. Also another group of boys came and where laughing at the map and walked away. They came back 15 minutes after that saying the needed something to do for there time-pass. To proud to stitch but still interesting at the conversations around the map.
An old lady saying that the heart off Bangalore to her is Cunningham road. Where she lives because everyone goes through there. Although it has become too crowded. One off the little boys got angry and disappointed because he didn’t have the peace off mind to embroider. Eventually he just stopped and tried to cut everything out. I think by mistake he cut a whole and gone he was.
The surprise and smiles on people faces of our action was great. For the kids and grow ups I had the feeling that they really enjoyed the interaction on the map.One shop keeper asked if the map is going to go abroad and show people how nice Bangalore is.
And Liz said after translation of Pusphi …YES and he laughed satisfied

19.01.09 Ana Meeting at Infinitea 2-3.30
Ana showed us a lot of interesting photographers who capture the daily life all on there own perception some planned some unplanned. That makes me wonder what to do shall I plan a scene/concept our find something unexpected? Still wondering who and where 27 frames will GO>?

20.01.09 Shivaji Nagar bus stop LIZ plan was 10-2 …new plan 12-2
We where an amusing attraction to the people who had to wait at the bus stop. Most people just wanted to look. Again mostly men but surprisingly a lot of women joined to participate.One women wouldn’t go to city market alone after 7. Because it’s just not safe for women.
Otherwise the reactions where quite similar to the previous days
A lot of smiles for colleges
Green dot or circle for cubonpark
And the hart still around mg and shivaji nagar.

surveying cubbon park

2009-01-21T22:28:00.001-08:00

a few more journal entries...

2009-01-21T20:22:00.001-08:00

by Pushpi Bagchi

journal entries

2009-01-21T09:51:00.001-08:00

Fear and Gender

2009-01-21T03:25:00.000-08:00

Fear and gender in a public space is quite a vast topic as people have different fears connected to personal experiences or sometimes without having experienced anything to that affect. I found this topic on the whole interesting as I thought I could relate to it on a more personal level.
I have had personal experiences in the past which have made me fear certain things, places or people. Many people would try to block out thoughts about these experiences in order to not deal with them. But the more I thought about it the easier it became for me to overcome that particular fear.
One of the projects that I would like to work on is Off-Limits which is conducted by Vinayak Das. He talks about how the public spaces in the city are meant for everyone but at the same time there are areas in our city which are off limits to women. Certain streets, bars, tea stalls are places where a woman would not be accepted without a man. As part of the Fear and Gender workshop, he wants to photograph such spaces in the city and try to bring out the essence of how fear and gender play an important role in the city’s spaces.
Along with being interested in photography, I also think there’s a lot that can be photographed with regard to this particular topic. After I saw some of Vinayak’s work, I got a sense of fear looking at a few certain spaces. I would like to explore some of these areas and see the different ways in which I could photograph them, and also know what kind of lighting I’d want for that kind of a space.
To conclude, I’d like to highlight the topic of Fear and Gender in public spaces and show it like a story through photographs. In a way, I want to link the two. I think I’d be clearer after I got to observe certain spaces more and see what the people are like. With that sort of information I’d find it easier to build a story around it and also decide the sort of frames I’d want to shoot.

Saema Husain

Radha Post Sunday Jan 18th Cubbon Park Intervention

2009-01-21T01:29:00.000-08:00

Radha's posting: Shivaji Nagar and St Marys Churh Bangalore India

2009-01-21T00:53:00.000-08:00

priyanka rocks

2009-01-21T00:31:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the patience with the tutorials priyanka!

Radha's Posting: Coles Park, Bangalore, India Intervention with Liz and Srishti Students Shivaji Nagar, St Mary's Church and subway in the Bus Stop

2009-01-21T00:13:00.001-08:00

Journal entries on Bangalore's urban fabric

2009-01-20T23:17:00.000-08:00

A few observations, reflections and conversation snippets that I note down everyday.

by Pushpi Bagchi

Small Things and a Few Strings

2009-01-18T12:00:00.000-08:00

An art intervention in public spaces, initiated by Karoline, an artist from Sweden, along with Srishti School faculty and students, several other artists like Anna, Vinayak, Veera and Richard.

Venue: CUBBON PARK

Priyanka Daga

Photos from the last few days of Fear & Gender

2009-01-17T19:48:00.000-08:00

It has been quiet energizing to be involved with all the International Artists who are collaborating with Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology for the Fear and Gender in Public Spaces workshop that is happening in Bangalore, India from Jan 14th to 28th. For the students themselves, this is a forum to speak out about their own fears in public spaces and Gender as a theme. This workshop is part of their semester course work that will be continued till end of February.

I thank Veronica Wiman who started this project many years ago. I also thank Zeenath Hassan who is co-ordinating this project in a big way. I thank Srishti for making this workshop happen. There are so many people to thank in this project.

Fear and Adornment in Public Space

Colombia – South Africa – USA – Sweden – India

Fear & Adornment in Public Space – is the title of a larger contemporary art and craft project including workshops, site specific productions and community development conducted by the LAND Contemporary Art Practices (Sissi Westerberg and Veronica Wiman). By talking about Fear and Adornment we want to widen the perspectives of what adornment is and create awareness of the connection between fear and public space. Fear, or ways of conquering fear are put in relation to adornment– art for the body, decoration and ornamentation as well as architecture and art in the public space. What reasons are there for adornment, how are we affected by it and how can we use it? The project is an offspring of Veronica Wiman´s curatorial research and practice - Fear and Gender in Public Space www.genderandpublicspace.org

Please see her email that was sent to all of us as she could be part of this workshop.

Dear All,

firstly, I wish to Thank you all deeply. Thank you for being in Bangalore and participating in my work and project "Fear and Gender in Public Space" which in Bangalore January 2009 will be a Thematical Residency.I am sad that I can not be there with you but grateful we have not cancelled this part due to your engagement and presence. (Briefly to let you know the reasons to my absence, was that the funding for the project was announced in the last minute a couple of weeks ago which delayed arrangements with VISAs, Srishti and the more to the point where we needed to cancel the workshop but organizing and facilitating your participation inBangalore differently.

I have been in contact with a few of you already but here and now look forward connecting with you all and letting you know how grateful I am and that I am available to you in this remote state and facilitating accordingly.

Thank you Radha deeply for involving the artists with the students at Srishti.

I wish and need to make clear to you all Participants. It has been decided that the project and realization in Bangalore, due to my personal absence in Bangalore, will be an artist thematical residency on Fear and Gender in Public Space. It is not a workshop, and no schedule or agenda to follow. As the initiator and curator of Fear and Gender in Public Space, in this project and at site it is a thematical residency to attend and develop work according to your interest and interpretation. The new Official Invitation with more details will be sent to you tomorrow. The blog has been set up by Zeenath, who also initially have suggested to invite you all to take part in this. Upon my wish, Zeenath has facilitated the Blog for us to have a forum to discuss within. Thank you deeply Zeenath for All your engagement and immense work on this.

I look forward to reading all your proposed projects and also what you will possibly present to the students at Srishti if this will be a possibility.

With much love and gratefulness,
Veronica

So I wish you all the very best and I will see you all everyday.
Big Hugs!
Love

Radha Chandrashekaran
Artist/Visiting Faculty
Srishti School of School Art, Design & Technology
Bangalore - India

Frames of a Mind

2009-01-17T11:19:00.000-08:00

Priyanka Daga

Fear and Gender in Public Spaces

2009-01-16T02:36:00.000-08:00

India is known to be a fast developing nation, adapting to globalization and opening up and adapting to change. While it may be true for the most part, India is still majorly a patriarchal country with a male dominated society in which women are still the disadvantaged gender in many ways.
There are various factors a woman needs to consider before she steps out of her house and equality of gender is still an unfamiliar term to most women today. Women are often subjected to harassment in their daily dealings with men from the ones on the local bus, auto rickshaw drivers, to men on the streets. This has left women in a constant state of fear. While there are some situations that can be overcome, there are still many inevitable circumstances that leave a woman feeling helpless and scared.
Fear is very personal. It is an emotion which different people associate with different things. It is an experience, a memory, an association, an intuition that we experience when exposed to certain situations.
In a metropolitan city like Bangalore, there are many cultures & classes of people residing together. All these people face some form of discrimination in different spaces. For women, there aren’t as many places that are accessible compared to the ones that are inaccessible. Local bars, petty chai shops etc. are places that make a woman feel unsafe and embarrassed. Roads are unsafe to walk on after a certain time at night. Men, on the other hand, don’t have as many inaccessible spaces.
I have come to these conclusions based on my experiences as a female individual in the city and what I face on a daily basis. Hence, I feel passionately about working with spaces deemed inaccessible and experiencing it with other people.
And I think performance is a great way of expressing one’s perceptions and putting your point across. I am really intrigued by Karoline’s as well as Vera’s work, and I think it will be a completely different experience working with them on this project, and I really look forward to it.

Swati

Fear and Gender in Public space

2009-01-15T21:30:00.000-08:00

In a perfect world, would there be no fear? In our imperfect world is there anyone who is completely without fear? I often wonder what life would be like if I had to fear from absolutely nothing; if I could confidently strike fear off the list of emotions I can feel. Then again, in this obviously imperfect world, do men have as much to fear as women by virtue of their gender? The general consensus, even by men is no.Why do we face so many more problems? Are we really the weaker sex that we can be taken advantage of? Why do I get taken advantage of? Does it comfort me that I am just one of the massive number of women whose space has been encroached upon or does it make me sick? How long will will we keep withdrawing our space to accommodate men? What i would like to do is to create a reversal of situation, even if very temporary, to make men experience being on the receiving end of the exchange. I would like to work out this challenge using photography. The workshop I would like to take up to help me with this is ‘Off Limits’. Why photography? Because it is the medium that I enjoy, love and am comfortable with. The camera is my weapon, it makes me feel safe. I would like to work with Vinayak Das because according to his brief ‘As part of the Fear and Gender workshops I train my lenses on such spaces in the city and try to bring out the essence of how fear and gender play a big part in the city’s space’, and this is what I am interested in doing as well. I find the idea of capturing spaces normally inaccessible to women appealing. I think this workshop is a good opportunity to express my gender related fears through the medium I like best.

Acting out situations associated with fear...

2009-01-15T10:20:00.000-08:00

Fear and Gender

2009-01-15T10:08:00.000-08:00

Fear, the word has too many meanings in my mind; it’s a feeling of extreme discomfort. It is something that’s nurtured over a period of time and evolves from experiences, memories and what we have witnessed or heard. There are fears that we are aware of and some which we are not aware of, but subconsciously we do react to them and over a period of time and begin to embed in to our thinking patterns. Experiences that trigger fear are anchored to us through various senses. We all experience and live with fears, but what interests me the patterns that build a fear, and how people’s approach towards fear.

Just the question of what I fear, leaves me with a perplexed mind. Debates, thoughts and outlook on fear have left me with too many questions, and I see using photography as a medium to picture my answers in some sense.

Off Limit’s- Vinayak Das brif has intrigued me particularly, because it would enter spaces like the paan shop, petty shops, bars, chai shops etc where women just don’t go alone or go at all. These spaces are very uninviting for women. It would be great to work towards this as I would be entering spaces which I have feared myself, because of the awkward attention I have always received. These spaces seem like sensitive points, because the most amount of eve teasing happen around these ‘addas’ corners or the eve teaser’s gangs are found in abundance in such spaces. This could pass of as presumptions that I have arrived at after observing over a period of time.

I would like to understand how I can capture the absence of women in such spaces. What kind of women can actually walk into such spaces? Are there women from different sections of the society in such spots? Does it specify class or standard? If there are women in such spaces, who are they, where do they belong in the social band? Is social status a factor in such spaces?

The behaviour of people in such spaces would be an answer to why women can’t or are reluctant to walk in such gender specific environments. I could capture moments of certain behavior, which would reason why women are not comfortable there.

I have seen Vinayak Das’s work and have related some of his work, thoughts and elements of his work to mine. The colours, compositions and subject he chooses for his pictures inspire me to take my camera and start shooting. I have personally indulged in photography over the last few years and have always wanted to work in to a certain theme or line of enquiry. This seems to fit my interests and passion, hence I would chose to work into this particular proposal.

Priyanka Daga