Social issues addressed through art
Different forms of artistic expression have played a cardinal role in social movements against inequality, oppression, and injustice, all throughout history. These art forms have lent social justice movements much-needed traction, thereby promoting, informing, and shaping social change. Be it the Renaissance movement, Women’s Rights Movement, Black Lives Matter Movement, Queer Art Movement, or even the Swadeshi movement. These artworks not only document the grim realities of systemic oppression but offer scope into the agony of lived experiences. There is beauty in their candid vulnerabilities yet stern defiance against historic systemic oppression that has cost their communities-the right to life, including the right to live with dignity.
![dekho par pyaar se](/sites/lawforall/files/styles/small_800x600_no_crop/public/2023-07/custom_resized_f9afeb21-f823-497b-8aa9-6e0232850fd2.jpeg?itok=z4w2goeM)
Dekho Par Pyaar se
Ajinkya Dekhane, a Mumbai- based architect, artist, and writer
Coming from an Ambedkarite Buddhist background, his practice engages with spatial exploration and expression of caste ghettos in the urban space. He uses mediums of Architectural drawings, sketches, fiction, and non-fiction writing to narrate the stories of his people and expose the rot of caste that lingers in the very foundation of Indian cities.
![High Hand](/sites/lawforall/files/styles/small_800x600_no_crop/public/2023-07/High%20Hand.jpg?itok=8qYBfvp4)
High Hand
Jose, a genderfluid illustrator from Kerala
Her work aims to bring to life experiences often kept out of the mainstream, mainly around the themes of gender and mental health. Employing surreal imagery and drawing from their fascination with the human body, they consider their work successful if they are able to make the viewers question the perspectives, we all have been conditioned into.
![Dalit Lives Matter](/sites/lawforall/files/styles/small_800x600_no_crop/public/2023-07/dlm.jpg?itok=43aUQcrC)
Dalit Lives Matter
Siddhesh, an artist and visual designer
His work primarily addresses narratives around hegemony and discrimination, especially the atrocities faced by the Dalit-Adivasis community. While minimalism and post-modernist thought are the main influence of his work, his work is based on in-depth research on the subject. Siddhesh describes himself as a multi-discipline, mixed-media artist, designer, treasure hunter, fallen angel, and soul searcher, and his work is a personification of his personal spiritual journey.
![Mavelinadu](/sites/lawforall/files/styles/small_800x600_no_crop/public/2023-07/Mavelinadu_page-0001.jpg?itok=OK2-ydPk)
Mavelinadu
Shrujana Shridhar, a Mumbai-based illustrator and artist
She works on children’s books and editorial illustrations. Her work centers on anti-caste expression from an Ambedkarite and feminist perspective. She belongs to the Ambedkarite-Buddhist community, and runs the Dalit Panther Archive, which focuses on digitising and translating Little Magazines and literature published by the members of the Dalit Panther movement.