A group of LGBTQ+ artists of South Asian descent are exploring expatriate identities and working to increase representation
Many aspects of India’s layered and prosperous relationship with Africa are buried in the stories of the continent’s three million-strong Indian diaspora. The constant exchange of ideas and people has helped foster a deeper understanding of India in much of the region. True, it stems primarily from shared political history and similar socio-cultural experiences, and is driven by diverse economic affiliations, but at its heart is human connection.
While the lived experiences and collective contributions of several waves of Indian immigrants to various African countries have been studied and documented, far beyond the borders of India, the role played by artists and their art in creating the notion of shared ‘Indianness’ remains relatively unremarkable. Is. unexplained. Enter Yulendri ‘Len’ Appasamy, a South African Indian writer, collage artist and zine-producer, who is part of the Kutty Collective, a group of LGBTQ+ multidisciplinary artists of South Asian descent, representing the ‘desi’ South. working towards increasing it. African in the art world of the country.
Appasamy and I discuss the role of art in deepening the ties between the peoples of these geographic regions, how artists of Indian origin bring an amalgamation of history, politics, nostalgia and a sense of displacement to their work, and how to push boundaries. How art can be used to break up citizenship and nationality.
In particular, the collective uses various forms of art as a medium to document the history of annexation from the point of view of Indian travellers. These young artists, many of whom are descendants of travellers, talk about how their families have tried to establish their roots in India. They wonder how indentured (bonded laborers taken to South Africa under colonial rule) and travelers (those who voluntarily settled and paid their own way) talk about Indian communities in South Africa in contemporary India. are done and thought about. His art, informed and based by his Indianness, tells the story of a chapter in Indian history from a unique vantage point.
multidimensional identity
The Collective is working to shift the conversation about what a diaspora Indian identity means to a deeper historical sense, in a more implicit way. Appasamy explains that “in South Africa we are more of a creolized and hybrid identity, and as a minority in the country, our work and the world have often been subsumed into other people’s understandings of Africa and blackness. We Through the work we are doing individually and collectively, we want to make it clear that ‘Indianness’ is a complex and multifaceted sentiment, especially in the Global South – Africa.”
While members of the collective often use the word ‘desi’ to identify themselves, Appasamy acknowledges that this is a phrase she personally struggles with. “Its inertia is in a dictionary that I find strange as an Indian South African where local slang for people of Indian/South Asian descent Charou (a mixture of Afrikaans and English), as opposed to ‘desi’. However, as a collective, we come from different places in understanding ourselves and ‘desi’ is a strategically useful term, especially when interfacing with the Global North or first and second generation South Asian diaspora communities, where that label is more commonly used.
These artists, some of whom can trace their ancestry to different parts of South Asia, have cultural, religious, ethnic, linguistic and class differences. However, it is the shared experiences of those who came before him and their different but similar experience of blending into a new land that informed his art. “Within the hybrid Indian identity in South Africa, there are things that have become part of our culture because of assimilation. I am thinking of a deep love for banicho, chutney and bhangra music, trips and trotters curry and madumbe The slang and terminology used by some Indian South Africans also points to this mixed spice heritage, as it is a mish-mash of Isizulu, Afrikaans, Tamil and Hindi.”
black and white
While the art of the Kutty Collective is often informed or implied by their Indian heritage, one of the biggest challenges appears to be breaking up the art scene that is dominated by the black-and-white binary. Appasamy connects this to a fundamental issue – that many other ethnic groups in South Africa contract and travelers do not know the history of Indian travels in South Africa. “There is no intertwining in the social fabric of the art world, or in the wider society here, unless through an orientalist gaze. Hand-holding a work that comes from the fabrication of the living realities of being an Indian South African is one The job gets done – whether they’re editors, curators, funders or other gatekeepers. It adds to your cognitive and emotional labor quotient.”
She adds that in South Africa, the black-and-white binary feels unbroken in many ways and is a barrier to finding language that is welcoming and accommodating to difference. “There is a general feeling that Indian South Africans are ‘not black enough’; not white enough’ or wanting to make your work more ‘Indian’ or less ‘Indian’ – which relates to the trauma of colonialism and apartheid , as well as the violent racial groups enacted against each other.”
‘Simran Scholes in the Face of Heteronormativity’ by Akshar Maganbihari | photo Credit: special arrangement
While artists respond to the problem differently, Appasamy’s approach is to be mindful of it, but to do away with the binary altogether. “Stuck between two worlds and two static notions of race doesn’t make for a good art or a good state of mind, so I center myself and my communities, and allow what happens to happen.” To reach home, she quotes Toni Morrison: “I stood on the border, stood on the edge and claimed it as central. I claimed it to be central, and let the rest of the world go there.” where I was.”
The author is a researcher at the Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi, working on Asia-Africa issues and is currently based in New York.
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