Community Arts: KOLKata / INDIA 2018

SARI WALL: THE BEAUTY OF DIGNITY

Location: Red light district, Kolkata, India

Time: 2016/2018

Project partner: Freeset, an organization that has been providing employment and a community of freedom for the vulnerable women in Kolkata.

Background: Since 2016 two wall murals were painted with women who experienced human exploitation. Many of them are illiterate, got sold as teenagers, were trafficked and ended up in Kolkata as sex workers. The concept is inspired from the conversations with these women about their culture, their view of freedom, dignity and hope.

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“Freedom only exists when my people are free.”

— The first woman we met from the community

THE HIDDEN STORY - by Rahel Lam

The noise of motors, clouds of dust and a smell mixed of indian spices, rotten food and garbage surrounded us while we were painting a sari on the wall at the entrance of the Gateway, a factory building from Freeset located at the entrance of one of the largest red light districts in Asia called Sonagachi. Behind me stood Arpita, who stands daily on the street to find customers. It was never her choice, her story is a common one. Sold, trafficked, sold again... Never a choice, never a voice.

While we painted the background of the sari, she observed every little step we did. I asked her if she would like to help me to paint flowers on the wall. She shook her head, she never had a brush in her hand and the uncertainty was written all over her face, “I can’t!”. I looked in her eyes and asked:

“Shall we paint together?”

I took her hand and she dipped her finger into the paint. We painted together a dot, then a second and a third dot on the wall and continued until a small flower pattern emerged. I took the brush and painted small details around the dots. She looked at me and said “Kub Shundor” which means “beautiful” in Bengali. Then suddenly she looked to the left and right, took the brush and painted more dots. It worked.

Nobody could stop her anymore, she forgot the time, the street, the noise and her work. She painted a multitude of dots, and I turned them into flowers.

She looked at me with pride, the pride of a woman who created something beautiful, something she can be proud of!

We worked for hours on those flowers, over and over she came again, looked over our shoulders and said, “Kub Shundor" and gave me a hug.

We became friends, she brought more women to help me paint, they painted pictures, flowers and their stories - they made beautiful things. In the midst of desolation, poverty and mistreatment emerged a picture of beauty, hope and freedom.