“We have to search for the real image. So, for example, I’ve used the Venus of Willendorf in my work. For me, that image is an historical image, holding in a way the history of women’s bodies. So, in my work, the Venus of Willendorf has a broken breast not to represent Nangeli (an Ezhava-lower caste woman, this is related to the Brahminical imposition on the Dalit community where the women were not supposed to cover their breasts. Nangeli covered her breasts. When the tax collector came she cut off her breast and paid her taxes with it). Rather, I try to capture the presence of this historical act. To understand the historical relevance of Nangeli or her particular subversive act, we have to understand that her individual assertion comes from the historical and collective consciousness. We are not going to use the same metaphors, the same kind of reality, which are used by the upper caste and the ruling class. We have to identify the real image – if we really are with the people, or on the people’s side, then we can visualize and realize our images, and we don’t have to bother about the superficial Brahmin-upper caste metaphors. Counter image, untimely image, true image can only come from the real people.”
- Anupam Roy
