13-17 March, 2020 @ Lokayata, Hauz Khas, New Delhi
The exhibition titled ‘SHAKTI – The Power’ is exhibited as a collective of masked creations fashioned by about 200 artists from 30 cities. An exhibition of painted masks on the theme women empowerment organized by Speaking Art Foundation (SAF), Conceptualized and curated by Neeraj Sharma.
The Speaking Art Foundation provided each of the participants a facial mask cast in fiber glass (13×13 inches) as their ‘canvas’. The stark contours of these forms have now been reborn into powerful outlets of individual thoughts.
Besides its pictorial strengths, the masks on display, also convey a powerful and committed message that traces the ups and downs of woman’s status in the country from the ancient time till now in different roles as rulers, mathematicians, warriors, etc. The decline of the medieval period too, has found voice through these painted creations. As the exhibition also holds up a mirror to the dark sides of contemporary times, some of the creations are candid portrayals of the pervasive phenomena that stigmatize women as mere objects, and subjected to the worse kind of offences, including sexual degradation, and as inferior role players in societal matters. Other works take note of the elevated status of the handful of our times, when women have risen to occupy the highest offices of the land and contributed to the society.
