In the times we live in—where, often acknowledging, tolerating and celebrating differences is seen as a sign of weakness nothing opens better the debate on gender, as this quote from Marguerite Yourcenar’s ‘With Open Eyes’ written and published in 1980: ‘… Anyway, women who say “men” and men who say “women”, usually to complain within one group as within the other, instill in me a great sense of ennui, like do those who stumble through all that is formulaic.
There are virtues that are specifically ‘feminine’ which feminists seem to scorn, this does not by the way mean that these were ever the prerogative of all women : gentleness, goodness, finesse, delicacy, virtues so important that if a man did not possess them at least in small proportions, he would be considered a brute, not a man.
There are so called masculine virtues, this does not mean that all men have them: courage, endurance, physical energy, self-control, and the woman who does not have at least a small proportion of these is looked upon merely as a duster cloth, if not a rag.
I wish these complementary virtues would be used equally for the good of all. But removing the differences that exist between the sexes, no matter how variable and how fluid these social and psychological differences may be, seem deplorable to me, like everything that pushes the human race, of our time, to a dreary uniformity.
However, the last word on ‘Gender’ would never have been spoken! What better way to keep the focus on this subject, but perhaps, to look back, introspect time and again and debate further…?
The Gurgaon Centre of the Alliance française de Delhi therefore celebrated GENDER(S) through 2015–16! A series of four art exhibitions, each furthering the scope of discussion on Gender and pushing the query to another level: If ‘Woven in Time Space and Material’ was an attempt at understanding and exploring surface and materials used by different genders for creative expression, it also presented an occasion to find answers to questions such as,
• Could choice of material to express in a certain visual medium carry an indicator of any gender attributes?
• Do men choose to express through material that is different from women?
• Are there any defined boundaries? Is the choice of material restricting or liberating in expression, for the artist and for the viewer?
• What is defining? The subject defines the use of a certain material or vice versa?
‘Eye The Other Me’ was an exhibition that furthered the debate and explored the notion of SELF. Quite naturally this notion found an extension in the following exhibition on Identities. ‘Game of Identities’ enlarged the scope of discussion to social, political and cultural context of Genders.
The concluding exhibition for the year on ‘Gender’, ABOUTTURN: Is The Female Point Of View Essentially Feminist? attempted to present, of course, yet another opportunity to take a closer and a harder look at the notion of feminism as it stands today and as it has evolved. This exhibition was a culmination of sorts of a project that was essentially experimental and enquiry based in nature which saw the coming together of young creative persons from various mediums over a blog that was initiated by two young art practitioners, Nilanjana Nandy and Anni K. Sharan (https://aboutturnproject.wordpress .com/) in order to invite participation for their open ended independent project, ABOUTTURN. The blog served on one hand, as a platform for the participating artists to deliberate, discuss, debate and on the other, as the essential sketchbook, information data base and mouthpiece of the project for almost the entire year.
The project was an attempt at creating a socio-cultural dialogue, making Gender and related themes an everyday, livable concern. Revisiting, debating, critiquing, testing, negotiating; negating; questioning; proposing, reinforcing, etc. The various case studies in this project questioned the myriad premises around gender seen within the socio-cultural, political, psychological, pedagogical prism, through an aesthetic approach.
These exhibitions did not just give the audience, the opportunity to ponder over, discuss and debate but also reading of extracts from French and Francophone literature and performances, multi-disciplinary Indo-French panel discussion on Gender Parity and dramatized reading by 15 (all) women characters of a Canadian Play Les Belles soeurs, scripted in the sixties, as contemporary and relevant as ever, extended the opportunities and scope to dialogue on the issue.
These debates and discussions were as much in celebration of similarities as the differences of Gender(s).
To conclude a quote from Jean Paul Sartre: I get a new grip on what I am by framing, for myself, the way in which another views me. I go past simply being an object for the other and establish my own point of view upon the way I have been framed. It is in this way that I can frame the way someone has been framing me that I get beyond myself, as it were, so as to see knowledge, as if from the point of view of others, as simply there….
Vasanthi Gupta, Head of Centre, Gurgaon Alliance Francaise de Delhi, is the recipient of the palmes/Academiques awarded by the French Government (2009–10).