HOPE PAINTERS: KOLKata / INDIA 2018
THE BEAUTY OF FREEDOM
Location: Kolkata, India
Time: 2018
Background: There’s a majority of people thinking that people living under poverty do not deserve to see beauty of life. This is particularly the case in India, where their cultural history divides people into different classes. We saw street people who had been treated badly and as a result lost all dignity and desire to live. We desired to go out on the street and create art for people who typically have no opportunity to be exposed to beautiful things, because we believe that art belongs to and can touch anyone who is open to it.
“We realize the importance of our voices only when they are silenced.”
THE HIDDEN STORY - by Rahel Lam
While we were working on the wall, a young man came over and said:
“Why are you doing this? This makes no sense. These people here anyway don’t care about it, they are poor people, they have no sense of beauty.“
Back in the time when I was drawing the sketches for this bird wall by the riverside, I saw a little girl jump into the water. I haven‘t seen many girls playing outside. Unlike the boys who are usually hanging on the street with friends, most of the time the girls have to help their mothers for the housework and are not supposed to play.
In Kolkata, we encountered so many stigmas and social injustice. In general we often had to face that girls have less right than boys, especially when it comes to more conservative communities.
I wanted to express the power of being a girl. And yes we strongly believe that art belongs to the people, to everyone, not just the rich people.
“If I can plant a flower would I choose the meadow full of flowers and overflowed by seeds or would I plant it in the concrete deserts?”
I would plant it in the concrete desert, as it brings more significant and impactful changes. I believe people long for beauty, they long for pictures and parables, which talk to our hearts and touch the bottom of our soul. Through this we can changes our mindset and evolve our opinions.
