Abin Chaudhuri * Biju Kuriakose * Parvathi Nayar * Saira Biju * Neesha Amrish
People are still resistant to the idea of gender is not just biological, but also performative, changeable and trans/mutable. It is at such junctures that art can intervene to play a role.
The Hashtag#Collective’s intervention takes the form of GenderFluid, presented at the external spaces, Gallery OED, Kochi, between December 10, 2018, to March 28th,2019. In the conceptualization and creation of this performative artwork, The Hashtag#Collective collaborates with innovative fabric artist/designer Neesha Amrish.
GenderFluid is a thoughtfully-constructed installation, that allows people to experience gender fluidity as a positive movement towards a more inclusive world. It arose out of interviews with trans-men and -women, and a desire to communicate the specificities of their sense of identity belonging and gender. The installation, in the form of translucent panels, allows visitors to walk through and experience the interchange-abilities of gender forms.
A special interaction with the installation is FluidForms, a performative fashion show of transwomen/men models wearing garments fashioned from ahimsa silk. The installation and performance offer powerful interplays of rainbow-colors and symbols, figures and shadows.
The members of The Hashtag#Collective originally came together because of a passionate belief in the role of artistic intervention to present, critique, and re-present our changing socio-cultural environments. With GenderFluid we suggest how the human race is richer and stronger for the diversities that exist within us.
The Hashtag#Collective is supported by Harmony Foundation, Calcutta and partners with Dilip Narayan OED as venue partner; NGO Dhwayah and Sahodaran as gender research and presentation partners; Ranjit K as lighting designer.
Installation Venue: External spaces, GalleryOED, 5/600, Bazaar Rd, Mattancherry, Kochi, Kerala 682002, 094471 08011
Installation dates: December 11- March 28th, 2019
