Capturing The Resilience Of The Trans Community

Nestled in an old mansion along the charming bylanes of Colaba, a vibrant pop of colours greets visitors to a trailblazing art exhibition. Washed in a medley of cerulean blues, coral reds, neon pink and amber, a stunning mural and canvases showcasing intimate portraits of trans women grace the confines of the gallery XXL’s walls.   

Scenes from the revered Koovagam and Yellama festivals, a triptych of the signature hijra clap, and portraits capturing the daily lives of the transgender community at once evokes mythology and lived reality of the transgender community in intersectional narratives. The works are part of the Aravani art project’s first solo exhibition titled On the Cusp of the Eight Day.  

“The trans artistes are all self-taught, having learned painting skills through the collective and this is the first time they have come together to showcase their body of work in a solo exhibition," informs curator Sarah Mallik of Gallery XXL in Colaba. On display are 26 art works including canvases, photographs and mixed media incorporating textiles and embroidery.  

Each work has emerged out of a personal and interactive reflection of the Aravani trans community. The bold geographic patterns-- trademark style of the group-- on the paintings are a result of photographs taken by Poornima Sukumar, illustrator and director of the art project, and hand painted on the canvases by different team members.    

Until now, the group painted large motifs in the form of murals. From Mumbai’s Mehboob Studio and Soho House, to the Microsoft and Wipro tech’s office spaces in Bengaluru, to the walls in Colombo and Kathmandu, and Facebook’s headquarters in California and Venice art Biennele, their eye-catching murals have made waves across India and overseas. 

The Aravani group with teams in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Delhi, is a collective of trans and cis women, which transforms the stigma and ostracization faced by the transgender community into a powerful expression of art.  

On the occasion of its ninth anniversary, the group decided to take a step forward with an art exhibition. The numbers ‘nine’ and ‘eight’ in the title, are significant markers for the transgender community, adds Mallik.   

In many parts of the country, number 9 is derogatorily used as an insult towards transgenders. Whereas the eighth day as mentioned in the exhibition’s title refers to the Kurukshetra war in the grand epic of Mahabharata, when Aravan, son of Arjuna and the Naga princess Ulupi, sacrificed himself on the battlefield, to help the Pandavas win the war. Aravan is worshipped as the patron god of Indian transgenders. Through his epic the trans community holds a belief that they are born from Aravan’s lineage and are therefore also known as Aravanis.    

“Aravan’s sacrifice signifies a new beginning and a birth of a new idea. The exhibition is an ode to the transgender community, their cause and their history,” asserts Mallik. “We wanted to draw attention to the mythology and also educate people through the artworks.” 

Unlike the stereotypical portrayal of trans people in mainstream media which harps on the stigma, the art works on display celebrate the joy and beauty as well as the reality and their resilience through art. In many ways, the paintings and the photographs challenge the heteronormative notions on gender and sexuality.  

Take for instance, the acrylic on canvas painting titled Kanchana, a smiling portrait of the trans artist by the same name, holding a strand of flowers. The description notes that Kanchana loves to be a mother, lies to dance, pain and sketch while listening to folk songs. Another portrait called Varsha, is a sketch of another team member who acts as a mentor and caretaker of trans people in Chennai. “How to embrace loneliness, with open arms, while leading any journey with compassion for yourself?,” questions the description alongside the painting.  

Reflections of desire, expression, and identity like these are often absent in stereotypes perceived about trans people. The concept of duality is a recurring theme across the art works provoking the dichotomy of the ideas of gender and sexuality vis-a-vis its lived reality as per societal norms.  

The visual stories serve as a powerful reminder of the joy and beauty of the trans community, which has been long been forced to live on the margins of society. Notwithstanding the attempts to ignore or sideline them, the Aravani artists are boldly asserting their existence, and nudging us to see that at the end of it, they are just like us.