06 December,2020 06:28 AM IST | Mumbai | Sumedha Raikar
Gopinath Gangawane, active in the Republic Artist Group, specialises in Babasaheb Ambedkar`s "head series". The series has dominated his thought process since his art school years in Aurangabad
Educate. Agitate. Organise. The three words used symbolically by Dr BR Ambedkar in his 1942 speech at the All-India Depressed Classes Conference, bear special significance for visual artist Uttam Ghosh, 57, who has spent a lifetime illustrating Dalit poetry, Ambekarite movement literature and Left-leaning journals. The words resonate today, more than ever, for the home-bound Ghosh. He has juxtaposed them in his latest design, depicting Ambedkar's bespectacled visage. "At a time when we are fighting against a virus, the importance of education and organisation can't be undermined," says Ghosh, who otherwise commemorates Ambedkar's death anniversary by mingling with artists, writers and poets gathered at Dadar's Chaityabhoomi. "For me it is a great book stall tour; also, once upon a time, the yearly ritual meant spending the night talking with friends at poet Sambhaji Bhagat's Sidharth Vihar hostel room."
This year, Ghosh's Ambedkar design has been used on T-shirts, currently sold online by a Pune-based Ambedkarite follower, who has tied up with the Roots clothing brand. The T-shirts are usually sold at Chaityabhoomi, but COVID-19 has cast a spell on congregations, even as we enter the ninth lockdown month. "Even if large-size meetings are not feasible, the visionary leader will be in our collective consciousness. The memorabilia gives us a reason to reconnect with Babasaheb's philosophy," maintains Ghosh, who at one point, was quizzed by an Ambedkarite. "How come your art draws energy from Babasaheb's values?" was the question put to him. "I am a Bengali Maharashtrian raised in Nasik, taught at Sir JJ Institute of Applied Art; [I have been] inspired by Babasaheb since my schooling years," was the savarna's answer, who believes in sketching an "approachable" Ambedkar, rather than the suited serious framed leader.
Like Ghosh, Nanded-based Shridhar Waghmare also doesn't identify with the unsmiling Ambedkar. He collects Ambedkar's unseen frames. The 29-year-old has, in fact, caught the leader in his resonant quotes and iconic signature. His T-shirts sell much before the Mahaparinirwan Din on December 6. He gets them printed in advance from Hyderabad. COVID-19 affected business this year. However, Waghmare, who has an MBA degree from Pune, believes Ambedkar helped him in the current crisis, too. Waghmare is selling wooden frames of the leader's signature. "It's a signature that changed a billion lives, including mine. My idea of depicting the signature has been highly appreciated; around 150 frames are already booked. One of them is travelling as far as London." Waghmare says Nanded, a politically vigilant city of Marathwada, enabled him to become an active member of the Ambedkarite movement. Though not an artist by profession, Waghmare was attracted to drawing Ambedkar's face since his formative years. "I see a sense of serenity in his face, and that's not just because I am from the scheduled caste. He stood for anyone whose voice was unheard." Waghmare is a member of the Yuva Panther group in Nanded, which is contemplating a plunge into electoral politics soon. Waghmare is ideating on design elements that can help build ties with the Assembly constituency.
For Mumbai artist Vikrant Bhise, 36, Ambedkar has lived in his consciousness ever since he graduated in fine arts from LS Raheja School. He recalls Ambedkar whenever he paints a migrant labourer, which he has done on several occasions in the lockdown. India's Labour Act, which was so sensitively thought out by BR Ambedkar, reminds us of our unfulfilled "welfare" state, Bhise observes. His recent sketches and drawings, using varied mediums, dwells on the common people Ambedkar stood for. For instance, the construction worker, perched atop a crane, wiping the dust off Ambedkar's statue; the masked faceless men-women placing candles in front of his bust. The leader's face emerges symbolically, whenever Bhise reacts directly to the current dynamic. Among his most circulated images on social media is an oil on canvas juxtaposing the half profiles of Mahatma Gandhi and Ambedkar, against the backdrop of a funeral pyre. Titled, A_Hinsa, the work (12 x 14 inch) stacks two distinct worldviews against each other.
A painting from Sanjeev Sonpimpare's Blue series, where he has etched the Rajagruha (Dadar) premise, where the leader spent considerable time reading and writing
He is currently experimenting with works revolving around busts of the leader; he also wants to present Ambedkar in a multi-colour format, especially targeting the young follower. "I don't want Babasaheb to be limited to monochrome dull colours. He was quite a presence, holding immense significance to different sections and people," says Bhise, an active member of the Secular Art Movement.
Sanpada-based Gopinath Gangawane, another artist active in the Republic Artist Group, specialises in Ambedkar's "head series" - oil on canvas - which have dominated his thought process since his art school years in Aurangabad. Gangawane, 33, was influenced by the Ambedkarite movement when he took to portraiture. "While studying aesthetics in my post-graduation at the Sir JJ School of Art, or even while living in smaller cities like Pusad, one could gradually sense the caste identity that follows after birth. That fact brought me closer to the teachings of Babasaheb, a person who dreamt of castelessness," recalls Gangawane, a Vanjari (Nomadic Tribe) by caste. He says the real world and the world of visual arts run parallel, often compelling the artist to negotiate for a stable identity. "Even metros don't allow artists to work in a casteless frame. Fascist forces, which Ambedkar attacked, surround us in the most democratic of institutions. We have to be alert to these negative energies." Gangawane, practising art for the last ten years in Mumbai, is drawn to Ambedkar's books - the source of wisdom for generations to come. In his latest untitled water colour work, he magnifies Ambedkar's key treatises, including Annihilation of Caste. While he depicts guns trained on the books, he upholds the power of the thought that overcomes violence. "Each of us can save Ambedkar's legacy, if we care to read his writings." Gangawane's showcase of walls - one made of books and the other projecting guns - is a widely acclaimed image across platforms; it has been used as a complementary backdrop for an Ambedkarite poem speaking of true freedom.
Sonpimpare's Ambedkar-inspired artwork featured on a book cover
Senior visual artist Sanjeev Sonpimpare, 51, feels that more young artists are drawn towards Ambedkar in the social media space. "We can't say that Ambedkar was ever forgotten, but one can sense that he was unsung for quite some time in the last few decades. Social media has changed the equation." Whether in visual arts practice or in the discourse around personal liberties, young people quote Ambedkar as a watershed reference point, which is welcome, he feels. Sonpimpare's Rise series delineates Ambedkar in varied forms, of which the one focusing on activist-student Rohith Vemulla was displayed in Chaityabhoomi last year. His canvas used an iconic blue to represent an illusory merger of the backdrop and the foreground, making the viewer wonder about the surface reality. He is working on another 12-part series titled, Blue, where Ambedkar and the country's Constitution feature prominently. Using stainer pigment and water colour on paper, he has etched the Rajagruha (Dadar) premise, where the leader spent considerable time reading and writing.
While Ambedkar's physical form does inspire him, Sonpimpare locates him in current student agitations and farmers' protest. "He is so influential that he unites artists of varied hues, even in a year when they cannot meet and mingle freely." Annihilation of COVID-19, he calls it.
Vikrant Bhise's A_Hinsa, is an oil on canvas juxtaposing the half profiles of Mahatma Gandhi and Ambedkar, against the backdrop of a funeral pyre
Shridhar Waghmare who used to make Ambedkar-inspired T-shirts on December 6, is selling wooden frames of the leader's signature. The signature, he says, changed a billion lives, including his
A T-shirt carrying Uttam Ghosh's Ambedkar visual, and words from his 1942 speech at the All-India Depressed Classes Conference
Sumedha Raikar-Mhatre is a culture columnist in search of the sub-text. You can reach her at sumedha.raikar@mid-day.com
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