An ode to the contributions of Namdeo Dhasal, the artworks on display at Worli’s Art & Soul gallery reflect on the way the poet and founder of the Dalit Panther Movement wrote about communities pushed to the margins by oppressive systems. Centered on his ‘Golpitha’, they take us through the lives of the residents of Mumbai’s Kamathipura
As Prabhakar Kamble notes, the black and white drawing is a symbolic way of expressing the colourless lives of those fighting an oppressive, casteist system. Painting by Prakash Bhise. Image courtesy: Art & Soul Gallery
“We constitute 80 percent of India’s population which adds up to at least 800 million people who don’t find their faces amongst those in curatorial focus at exhibitions and biennales. Our aesthetic is versatile from our traditional vocations as village bards, dancers, cobblers, weavers and blacksmith. I bring with me those elements to a community with whom I wish to talk. Our stories need to be heard,” says Prabhakar Kamble, curator of ‘Golpitha: A Namdeo Dhasal Memoriam’ currently showing at the Art & Soul gallery in Worli.