Module by: Mario da Penha
-Pranav Kadambi, Maitri Shah
Society, till date, is categorized and structured along the lines of gender and its distinctions. Cities have been the centre of revolution, ideas, and politics throughout human history, and has recorded the existence of people of varied gendered, sexualized identities and behaviours.
It was also too important to note that our present definitions of gender such male, female or transgender and distinctions of lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual and did not exist as we know them in today's context.
During the course we read and studied many historical excerpts, the initial writing of Buddhist nuns, the Arthasasthra, and Kamasutra, love poetry of Sufi and Bhakti poets-delving deeper into the gender norms in its historical context, and uncovering new layers of meaning of gender roles. What was considered male and female? What was considered in-between? How did gender interact with other distinctions such as age, religion, caste, class, and slavery? And what legacies from this time survive today? We were made to look through this not in our present day lens of prejudice, but considering the context of social mindset, conditions of life and norms of the time.
The class took 2 site visits in the duration of the module, the first visit being the Kaliamman Temple, Antop Hill. The rituals and the upkeep of the temple is carried out by Trans-women. The high priestess of the temple, Maniammal carries out the pooja at every Amavasya. People from different sects come to get blessings of Kali and the priestesses.
The second visit was at Vasai Fort, where we looked at the existence of colonialism and the Maratha empire in the same space in different timeframes and its significance. Decoding the graves inside the church and deciphering the role of women as primary donors of the church.
We also moved around the cloistered spaces of the nuns inside the church.
This course opened us up to concepts of ‘queer’ identities and learning about their historical standing. Through the multiple readings across time and age, we moved away from thinking of them as western concepts but understanding their basis in our culture and society. It also equipped us to look at evidence and how to interpret the evidence. Uncovering various levels of politics involved both in the present as well as historical context.
It enables us to be sensible and sensitive towards other sexualities and gender identities.
Going beyond the labels and understanding the context and levels of layers of oneself.
Through the various learnings in the course, we were made to produce a story of our own, placed in any of the time periods we found interesting, and make visual works to represent the story created. The assignment was given with a 2-hour time limit, and we were allowed to choose to create the visual artwork, either hand-drawn or through a digital medium.
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