Does dissent art only belong to the dissenter?

In a recent controversy that unfolded on April 20 poet Aamir Azizmdashbest known for his searing piece Sab Yaad Rakha Jayega written during the antiCAA protestsin 2020mdashpublicly accused renowned artist Anita Dube of using lines from his poem in one of her exhibitions without his consent credit or compensationldquoWhen I confronted herrdquo Aziz wrote on social media ldquoshe made it seem normalmdashas if lifting a living poetrsquos work branding it as her own and selling it in elite galleries for lakhs of rupees was normalrdquoAamir Aziz first put out his original poem Sab Yaad Rakha Jayegamdashwhich was born out of dissentmdashduring the antiCAA protests in 2020 PicYouTubeThe00aAamirDube responded by acknowledging an ldquoethical lapserdquo in only giving credit but not in checking with Aziz for using words from his poem ldquoHowever I reached out and called him apologised and offered to correct this by offering remunerationrdquo she said in a private Facebook post Dube went on to say that Aziz instead of accepting her apology chose to send a legal notice and that she had to consult a lawyer as well ldquoAs far as the accusation of my wanting to monetise the poem goes I immediately took the works off salerdquo she continuedFor centuries marginalised communities across the world have turned to art for both refuge and resistance But as urban mainstream spaces begin to embrace the aesthetics of dissent a troubling pattern emerges The rawness of protest artmdashrooted in lived experiencemdashis increasingly repackaged by galleries fashion houses streaming playlists and advertising campaigns Stripped of its political context what was once a cry against oppression is transformed into a curated experience commodified for audiences who may never engage with the realities the work was born fromManan ShahldquoThere is no formalised institutional system in place to address such allegationsrdquo says Manan Shah museologist art curator and writer ldquoHowever when such concerns arise it is imperative that the artist or gallery responds with care and sensitivity The objective should be to reach a resolution grounded in mutual respect and understanding If a community or individual artist expresses discomfort or withdraws consent for the presentation of their workmdashor a representation thereofmdashit should be promptly removed from the exhibitionrdquoRoshini Vadehra the Director of the Vadehra Art Gallery Delhi where Dubersquos controversial piece was displayed told Sunday midday that the gallery only exhibits works that are directly from artists or have a very solid provenance She clarifies ldquoIn Dubersquos exhibition the context was always given Credit was given to Aamir Aziz in the artwork caption and the curatorial note outlined the thought process behind the exhibitionrdquo She adds ldquoThat aside in this case there was a lapse in checking with Aziz on the use of his words in Dubersquos artworks These are things we donrsquot take lightly and will be looking into it very carefully in the futurerdquoAnita Dube PicInstagram vadehraartgalleryThe Copyright Act of 1957 protects original artistic works including paintings sculptures drawings engravings photographs and works of artistic craftsmanship This means that the creative expressions of marginalised communities including traditional folk art are eligible for copyright protection However the reality is that many individuals from these communities often lack institutional access needed to formally register their work pursue infringement cases or navigate the complex legal system As a result their art remains vulnerable to appropriation and commercial exploitation despite the existence of legal safeguardsThe AzizDube controversy has sparked a wider conversation about how intellectual propertymdashespecially when it emerges from marginalised voicesmdashis frequently appropriated in the name of art thereby undermining the very spirit of dissent it once embodiedAziz showcased Dubersquos artworks that allegedly appropriated his poem in a post on X and wrote ldquoWhen I confronted her she made it seem normalmdashas if lifting a living poetrsquos work branding it as her own and selling it in elite galleries for lakhs of rupees was normalrdquo PicXAamirAzizJmiWe spoke to artists from marginalised backgrounds who tell us how they have navigated the tricky task of owning your narrativelsquoIt is a blatant assertion of powerrsquoYashica Dutt AuthorThere is a violence in the appropriation of protest art or resistance narratives especially when they come from marginalised creators speaking about their own livesrdquo notes Yashica Dutt a writer and journalist best known for her 2019 memoir Coming Out as DalitAccording to Yashica Dutt dissent can be commercialised ethically but only if the original artist benefits and retains agency PicLevi MendelHer story entered mainstream conversation once again after the release of Made in Heaven Season 2 In the fifth episode The Heart Skipped a Beat a Dalit bride played by Radhika Apte delivers a speech about her identity that closely mirrors Duttrsquos own life and writing Following the release Dutt alleged that the show drew heavily from her personal story without giving her credit The showrsquos creators while acknowledging her broader contributions to Dalit discourse overtly denied direct adaptationAccording to Dutt this kind of erasure is not uncommon especially as conversations around representation have only recently gained momentum in the Indian cultural sphereldquoThe shift began post2014ndash2015 particularly following Rohith Vemularsquos death and the assertion of Dalit voices that followed It extended to demands for the representation of Muslim voices tribal communities and othersrdquo she saysldquoThis surge in representation is something we should celebrate But it cannot come at the cost of marginalised creators themselvesrdquo Dutt adds ldquoWhen we tell our stories they often carry deep trauma And that trauma ironically is what makes our stories so appealing to othersmdashitrsquos what people want to showcase on screenrdquoThese stories Dutt notes take immense personal effort just to be told let alone accepted by institutions or platforms ldquoThatrsquos the Faustian bargain most artists from marginalised backgrounds are forced into To unpack trauma and attempt to share it with a wider audience is incredibly difficultrdquo she says ldquoAnd when that deeply personal hardwon narrative is appropriatedmdashespecially by dominantcaste creators or people with more influence access or reachmdashit feels like theftLike a piece of our life has been taken without permission And therersquos nothing that these artists can do about itrdquoAccording to Dutt thatrsquos what makes this a form of violenceFor her and many others like her itrsquos not just erasure itrsquos a power play ldquoThe process of creating these stories took years of struggle pain and persistence to tellmdashand someone else gets to take them commercialise them and gain from them while wersquore left with nothingrdquo she says ldquoThat is a blatant assertion of powerrdquo she addsShe notes that when dissent is commercialised the profit should flow back to the original artist not to institutions or individuals who simply have more access ldquoTake Aamirrsquos poetry used in speeches protests and banners it empowers and unites But when that same work is reproduced on merchandise or commercial platforms without credit or compensation it becomes exploitativerdquo says DuttThe labour rooted in resistance is coopted for profit erasing the very struggle it represents ldquoDissent can be commercialised ethically but only if the original artist benefits and retains agencyrdquo says DuttlsquoHow do you claim ownership of ancestral knowledgersquoShilpa Mudbi Kothakota Filmmaker theatre practitioner vocalistTHERErsquoS a danger in urban disenfranchised people exoticising the art of communities theyrsquove long distanced themselves fromrdquo says Shilpa Mudbi Kothakota a filmmaker theatre practitioner and vocalist who identifies as a Dalit Bahujan woman ldquoThey often fail to truly understand the sociopolitical and geopolitical dimensions behind these forms of artrdquo she addsShilpa Mudbi notes that when an external artist samples a sound belonging originally belonging to a marginalised community and commercialise it the original artist and hundreds like them are rendered obsolete And the people who already have access and money and social capital benefit once againMudbirsquos work draws heavily from Yellammanaata an epic passed down through generations via music and theatre Centred around Yellamma a revered goddess in the region the narrative is embedded in the collective memory of castemarginalised communities in South India Many of her songs are cocreated inherited oral traditions shared with her grandmotherLast year she discovered that songs unique to her community had been used in a Marathi play without permission or credit They were sung incorrectly and falsely attributed to a theatre collective she was once associated withldquoThere have been several moments when Irsquove felt my work was being appropriatedrdquo she says ldquoBut thismdashwhat happened recentlymdashwas the last straw that finally pushed me to speak up Honestly these incidents are far too commonrdquo The power of dissent lies not only in what is said but in who says itmdashand why Ignoring this reduces political art to mere aesthetic further marginalising the communities from which it aroseMudbi explores the intersection of cultural heritage and performance through her work ldquoMany of our goddesses especially in folk traditions are depicted castrating or killing evil forces This imagery reflects a long and fierce history of violence and oppression faced by their devotees These devotees were never the sariclad goldwearing archetypes and so neither were their goddessesrdquo she explainsldquoSomeone might take a Yellamma story and retell it in their classically trained voice package it beautifully and put it out without any intention of working with the actual community Thatrsquos not representationmdashthatrsquos extractionrdquoShe also observes that minority communities in Indiamdashparticularly those whose native instruments and musical practices have not been absorbed into the classical mainstreammdashare often reduced to sources of musical sampling with their traditions appropriated without recognition or context ldquoIf you sample a sound and commercialise it the original artist and the whole ecosystem around themmdashhundreds like themmdashare rendered obsolete And the people who already have access and money and social capital benefit once againrdquoMudbi notes that even if you try to register your work the system doesnrsquot know how to define collective ownership ldquoSay for instance yoursquore a Manganiyar artist born into a community that has sung these songs for generations How do you claim ownership of ancestral knowledgerdquoThe Protection of Traditional Knowledge Bill 2022mdashwhich has been introduced in the Lok Sabha but has not yet been passedmdashaims to protect traditional knowledge from misappropriation and recognise the rights of those who possess and generate such knowledge It proposes the establishment of a National Authority on Traditional Knowledge and State Boards to oversee the protection and recognition of traditional knowledgeMudbi asserts that there needs to be a mandate for individuals who profit from the suffering of marginalised communities to compensate those communities She cites the example of many savarna musicians from Maharashtra and Karnataka who have repeatedly gained popularity through their renditions of indigenous and tribal folk songs musical beats poetry and moreldquoThese viral songs that are appropriated actually originate from the struggles of marginalised communitiesrdquo Mudbi notes ldquoDespite earning several lakh rupees per show most artists never even acknowledge the songrsquos origins or credit the tribe they borrow from Their success is built on the hardships of these communitiesmdashand it is crucial that they recognise and compensate them for their cultural contributionsrdquolsquoPortrayal of Muslim characters in mainstream media has disturbed mersquoShahrukhkhan Chavada Independent filmmakerIndependent filmmaker Shahrukhkhan Chavada director of Kayo Kayo Colourmdasha feature film portraying the everyday life of a lowincome Muslim family in Sodagar ni Pol Kalupur Ahmedabadmdashtalks about the cinematic standpointShahrukhkhan Chavada right and his patner Wafa left drew inspiration from their own upbringing and struggles to create Kayo Kayo ColourldquoThe portrayal of Muslim characters in mainstream media is always something that has disturbed merdquo he says ldquoTheyrsquore either shown to be too crass or too noble But we too are just people We have the same daily routines as others and it is this portrayal that I wanted to bring to the front through this filmrdquoHe continues ldquoTherersquos a huge fallacy that surrounds most urban elite artists They think that people who come from marginalised castes and classes are just subjectsmdashthat they cannot pen down their own stories and so these artists must do it for us Itrsquos almost like the white manrsquos burdenrdquoThe feature film was shot in the in Sodagar ni Pol area in Kalupur Ahmedabad and was created on the ethos of portraying the everyday life of a lowincome Muslim familyChavada adds ldquoI believe therersquos nothing wrong with telling the stories of others While itrsquos true that mainstream creators often hold more agency and social capital than us itrsquos imperative that they approach the adaptation of our stories with greater sensitivity portraying our struggles accurately without romanticising themrdquoChavada notes that they need to step out of their comfort zones and view the experiences of these communities with empathymdashso that their stories arenrsquot reduced to commoditieslsquoEven government institutions have contributed to this erasurersquoSachin Satvi President and Founder of Adivasi Yuva Seva Sangh AYUSHWarli painting a traditional practice of the Warli Adivasi community in Maharashtra faces rampant misrepresentation and commodificationWARLI art which is a traditional practice of the Warli Adivasi community in Maharashtra faces rampant appropriation and commercialisation while real Warli artists are pushed outmdashstruggling to earn a livelihood and maintain their heritageSachin Satvi President and Founder of the Adivasi Yuva Seva Sangh AYUSHndashAdivasi Yuva Shakti highlights the increasing misuse ldquoOnline platforms frequently promote training sessions conducted by individuals with no authentic ties to the Warli tradition Many of these socalled artists copy and appropriate a handful of motifs or invent new patterns branding them falsely as Warli artrdquoThese imitations often find their way into massproduced products further legitimised by books and videos that spread false information Meanwhile real Warli artists are pushed outmdashstruggling to earn a livelihood and maintain their heritageSachin SatvildquoEven government institutions have contributed to this erasurerdquo Satvi says ldquoWarli paintings are often used indiscriminately to decorate underpasses railway stations public toilets and footpathsmdashstripped of context meaning or respect for the artrsquos cultural and spiritual rootsrdquoldquoThe consequences of such appropriation are severe cultural misrepresentation loss of identity emotional distress within the community economic exploitation and the gradual erosion of our heritagerdquo sighs SatviatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params