Screaming Silence: Reconfigured Mythologies in the Photographs of Chitra Ganesh
| Primary Creator | Author: Matic, Aleksandra |
| Academic Year | 2020-2021 |
| Place Published | Chicago, Illinois |
| Description | I examine a small body of four early photographs by interdisciplinary visual artist Chitra Ganesh: The Awakening (2004), Twisted (2001), the Hidden Trails triptych (2007), and the Flight of Birds diptych. This work has rarely been exhibited or formally analyzed. The primary goal of this thesis is to evaluate how the mythologies referred to in these photographs by Ganesh—mythologies familiar to viewers in Indian diasporic communities—create a series of narratives rich in critical import for contemporary and historical representations of caste in accounts of gender-based violence and discrimination. I strive in this thesis to understand the structure behind these narratives. The wide range of sources consulted means that references to contemporary literature, poetry, and most of all, the current politics of the Indian nation-state are found throughout this thesis. By engaging The Awakening, Twisted, the Hidden Trails triptych, and the Flight of Birds diptych through these means, visual analysis, as well as consideration of cultural production, this thesis situates Ganesh within a “canon” of other female Indian diasporic artists. |
| Thesis Degree | Master of Arts in Modern and Contemporary Art History |
| Granting Institution | School of the Art Institute of Chicago |
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