In a contest of sorts, some recent announcements around statues show how each one is being built to be bigger than the other
Far from being about ‘art for art’s sake’, statues are instrument for revival of memory, or construction of new ones.
The statues mark a point of time; time removes them; the new statues represent some different ideology; common men and onlookers remain unchanged beyond their...
Why are some statues built and others defaced? Why does no one ever build the statue of a working class man? Why are female statues shaped for the male gaze?
Can public art in India, depicting admirable women from history and mythology, shed the male gaze?
An exclusive extract from Kajri Jain’s book, ‘Gods In The Time Of Democracy’