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Two heavy wooden doors guard the entrance to a dark room. The space reeks of desolation except for a tiny window that peeps out from the wall.
It is a scene on a postcard created by Klara Ludwig of Hungary as part of an exhibition held in Ahmedabad, western India to commemorate 100 years of International Women’s Day.
Ludwig attempted to interpret the life of women, saying that even though their lives can still be shadowed by pain, there seems to be a tiny window of hope open to them in the form of solidarity of women from all across the world.
“International Women’s Mail Art 2011” has been initiated by local artist Priya Anand Pariyani. Her brief for the participants was simple: the postcards must try and interpret the 100 years of history of this landmark event in whichever way the artists deemed fit.
“The idea of creating something on a postcard got them really excited,” Pariyani told TrustLaw.
Produced by a range of female supporters from businesswomen to dancers, writers and doctors, the exhibition aims to represent the collective power of women to make a statement.
Pariyani hopes that it will act as an inspiration for artists worldwide and soon become an annual event with exhibitions in other countries as well. The project is supported by organisations like Women for Women International.
“I thought that mailing a painting all the way to India would get cumbersome for all the participants. A postcard seems far more portable,” she explains.
Pariyani has received hundreds of postcards from countries including Slovenia, Hungary, Greece and India.
In a country like India that deals on a daily basis with complex issues such as gender inequality, discrimination, rape, dowry deaths and female foeticide, International Women’s Day has special significance, Pariyani said.
She creates an exhibition each year to celebrate Women’s Day.
“I have seen my relatives suffer because of demands for dowry,” she said. “A woman, no matter from which background, is always treated like a secondary citizen. I always try to question this through my work.”
The postcard exhibition is on show until March 10 at Ravishankar Raval Kala Bhavan, Ellis Bridge, Ahmedabad.
Avantika Bhuyan is a senior correspondent at Open Magazine in New Delhi, India
Postcard credits from top to bottom:
- Clara Ludwig, Hungary
- Tracey Head, Australia
