Tehmeena Firdos

A cornerstone of India’s recent protest was the 101 day occupation of a national highway at Shaheen Bagh in the capital - New Delhi. Living in close proximity to this temporary autonomous zone, Tehmeena Firdos and her family witnessed first-hand the shifting moods of the site: strength generated in collective defence of the Indian Constitution, the pervading fear of state-supported attack, the aftermath of targeted violence around sites, and the continuing anxiety of police action. Utilising the moment of pause enforced by the Covid-19 lockdown to create from a reflective stance, Tehmeena layers these recent experiences with deeper undercurrents of her experience as a member of a vilified minority facing heightened aggressions under the current political regime. The artist infuses these small sculptures with a lived quality through surface textures alluding to flesh and ash, soft relief, watercolour paintings and found images, firmly questioning the cost of violence in the name of God and the state. Standing as a torch for those who lost their lives in responses to this resistance, these tender works hold important iconographies of hope for a coming future: the determination of sitting through long, cold nights, the resolute woman fighting for her rights, and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s emblematic finger pointing towards an equitable society for all.

Photo credit: Vidisha Fadescha