‘In/Visible’ –Women, Art, and Violence

The female physique has always been an object of love, passion, desire, and lust regardless of race, caste, place, and time. Human world and its growth revolves around the womb. However, the body of a woman is also a reflection of male domination and violence. And the wounds it receives, visible or not, can tell horrifying stories. Dilara Begum Jolly's solo exhibition 'In/visible' is a depiction of female bodies and the injuries inflicted upon them.

The inauguration of 'Aw/drishyo' or 'In/visible' took place at Kala Kendra, Lalmatia on January 6, 2023. Curated by Sharmillie Rahman, this event was attended by artist Nazlee Laila Mansur and Prof. Nisar Hossain as guests. The exhibition is an iteration of multidisciplinary visual artist Dilara Begum Jolly's ongoing series 'Deher Akhyan' (Bodies that speak). The purpose of this exhibition is to make people aware of how a woman's body is subjected to sexual violence throughout her life.

'In/visible' is based on the concept of Jalaluddin Rumi's quote "the wound is the place where the light enters you". There are three dimensional sculptures, and photographs of the pieces with installations. The fabric artworks in white are made of petticoats and blouses –the undergarments that cover the pelvis and breasts; they are stitched, folded, twisted, and joined to depict shapes of other organs of the body as if they were individuals. The large piece with blouses stitched vertically taking the shape of the spine stands in a corner of the first room. Another wall holds a vulva-shaped artwork. The photos which were conjured from the artist's own clothing are needle-pricked which is the signature all her art-pieces bear. This is the technique she uses to represent women's sufferings through tangible mediums.

The installation hanging from the ceiling screams of the cruelty and displacement of the Rohingya women. It is made of doll parts and the remains of sanitary napkins sent from Spain for the refugees. The artist explained that the room with a dimmed, red bulb symbolizes the red light districts of our country. The bed tells stories of passion, pain, and aggression. The doll parts hidden underneath portray unborn lives whereas the diagonally flowing clothes, menstrual blood. According to the curator, "the artworks, the watercolors in particular, display each part of the female body as a separate entity with their own little world where they rule". She added that the self-portraits speak of 'self-bondage' as a symbol of how the patriarchal society deprives women of cultural and sexual expressions.

Overall, 'In/visible' is an attempt to make people understand the struggles of women, and the fact that their trauma, scars are not something to be ashamed of, rather they are a source of illumination speaking of stories, experiences, and emotions.

Kala Kendra will run this exhibition till January 28, 2023.