A travelling library of self-published comics, which arrives in Mumbai next month, explores ideas of feminism, identity, gender and belonging
Growing up intersex and its meaning in present-day Brexit Britain; constant shifts that a modern Indian woman faces; the relationship between hair length and identity; transgender men and women and their experience of exclusion with respect to the politics of caste and religion. These are but some of the stories you will find at the Kadak Reading Room, a travelling library of self-published comics and zines, which makes its debut in Mumbai in early December.
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The Reading Room was started as a response to Gender Bender 2016, by the Kadak Collective. “We are a graphic or comic collective for experimental visual storytelling, spread across London, Los Angeles, Mumbai and Bengaluru. When we have something to say, a story to tell, we use comics to say it,” says Garima Gupta, a freelance illustrator from Mumbai.
The Kadak Collective consists of Akhila Krishnan, Janine Shroff, Aindri Chakraborty, Mira Malhotra, Pavithra Dikshit, Kaveri Gopalakrishnan, Aarthi Parthasarathy and Gupta. The women came together to showcase their work at the East London Comics and Arts Festival (ELCAF) 2016. “Everyone was creating comics on their own, looking at issues that touch upon the idea of feminism and the questions of gender and identity,” adds Gupta.
The Mumbai event will begin with a presentation on A History of Women in Comics by Parthasarathy. “It is my research on the history of female comic creators and representation of women in comics, in history and today. There are more women in comics now, but it has been a slow change,” says Bengaluru-based Parthasarathy, a filmmaker and comics book writer.
On: December 3 to 6, 10 am to 10 pm; the talk is on December 3, 2 pm to 4 pm.
At: The Cuckoo Club, Bandra (W)
Entry: 200 (the talk)
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