A new exhibit “Mithila Women Paint Gender-Based Violence in the 21st Century,” at Syracuse University showcases the artwork of women Indian artists depicting social issues through a traditional art form called Mithila painting.All of the artists in the exhibition like Shalinee Kumari are from rural India and live in communities that abide by patriarchal norms. Through their work, the artists incorporate a contemporary lens on the traditional art form to raise awareness about the severity of gender-based violence. Each painting is based on the artists’ personal experiences or of someone they know.  “I have not seen other Indian art forms, or even Western art forms — of that matter— depict stories about women or gender-based violence, or what happens in domestic life in the same way that Mithila artists are doing right now,” said Tula Goenka, who has studied Mithila art,is a filmmaker and professor at Syracuse University and will be on a panel discussing Mithila artThe gallery will be on display at the Syracuse University Art Museum in the Shaffer Art Building until Dec. 10. The exhibition is a part of the Ray Smith Symposium: Rupture, Resistance, and Community: The Crisis of Violence against Women and was curated by Susan Wadley, professor emerita of anthropology at Syracuse University. It will showcase more than 20 Mithila paintings from eight Indian artists from the Mithila region, located in the Northeastern state of Bihar, India. The art form is a cultural painting style that depicts mythology, religion, and marriages, among other topics. Contemporary artists use traditional elements of Mithila to display widespread issues that affect women living in patriarchal societies. Through Sunday there will be free artist talks. To view those upcoming events, click here.“One of the things we try to do with the exhibition is to make people think about the fact that violence is different from culture to culture,” said Wadley. “So we’re looking at the kinds of violence, the kinds of ways in which women are allowed to live or not allowed to live.” Wadley has studied Indian culture and Mithila for more than 30 years.Mithila is an ancient painting style that uses geometric and intricate patterns, symbols, and vibrant colors. Women used to paint the illustrations on walls. It wasn’t until the late 1960s that the paintings were converted to being created on paper, said Wadley. Not only was there a transformation in where the paintings were displayed but also in the stories and illustrations the artists depicted. Mithila used to primarily depict religious deities and rituals around marriages, said Wadley.Over the past 25 years, Mithila artists have begun to use art as a form of community building and activism. “Nowadays, people like Shalinee and other artists, they’re using a traditional art form, but they’re creating contemporary art,” said Goenka. “They’re no longer only painting religious themes or nature or village life. It’s become much more about social commentary.”Kumari’s art explores women’s issues, global warming, family, and mythology.She created her first drawings in her math notebook since there were no schools or places in India at the time where children could receive art training, Kumari said. Her earliest art lessons were from her grandmother. They drew large life-like images of elephants and trains on their courtyard floor. “We usually create lots of paintings [and] lots of motifs on the floor on that fasting day in our courtyard, so that God will come at night and he will bless us — all of us —  with those stuff,” Kumari said. She enjoys the freedom of using art to be expressive and hopeful for the future like her grandmother.Kumari’s skill led her to become an art teacher. But she married her husband in 2009 and had her first child in 2013 and chose to forgo her career as an artist and teacher while her husband pursued his studies.Eventually, her longing to create art reignited and she began painting again. “Art is my voice, I speak with [my] brush [and] without words,” Kumari said. Through her work, Kumari has also enacted change for her sisters by ensuring they had dowryless marriages. Kumari had an arranged marriage and wished for her sisters to have a different experience. Goenka and Wadley believe that change is slow for Indian women residing in rural communities. Mithila artists are “breaking the mold” by educating people and incrementally shifting traditional ideals, Wadley said.“I think what we’re really trying to do is showcase this one form of Indian art, but then make a leap into discussing gender violence on a much more national and global scale,” said Goenka. “So connecting the art, using the art to raise important questions in society.”The post Mithila paintings on display at SU Art Museum explore gender-based violence appeared first on Central Current.