Dissenting Views / Viewing Dissent
Featuring Raghavendra Rao Karkala (Raghu)
Visual Artist
Dates: Oct 25th to Nov 6th
Exhibit @ Hearth Gallery on Bowen Island
Open daily from 11 to 5 pm (closed tuesdays)
Artist pARTy: Saturday October 28th from 6 to 8 pm
Raghavendra Rao Karkala, also known as Raghu, is an established local artist who relocated from Bangalore in South India to British Columbia about twelve years ago. When he is not running the Indian Pop-Up Kitchen on the pier or driving the bus around Bowen, Raghu puts his heart in his art.
“I seek to tell the stories of those who occupy little space in the grand narratives of our world, minorities not only in terms of race, gender, and religious affiliation, but those who dissent against oppressive mindsets and overwhelming power.”, he says.
Dissenting Views/Viewing Dissent
My project explores how people and communities express dissent under the conditions in the world today.
I have fought against the rising tide of hate that has overwhelmed India in the last decade, and I have continued to voice my opposition since I coming to Canada in 2012. Even as an 11-year-old kid I took part in rallies supporting the election of a new government in 1979 in India, to oppose the government which, at that time, suspended the civil liberties of the public in an effort to suppress dissent. The current government of India has surpassed the suppression of civil liberties and expression dissent that we once thought criminal. Now, as a Canadian citizen, my public stand on present Indian politics must respond to the war on dissent in India today, where intellectuals, journalists, progressives, and religious minorities are punished for their existence.
As a Canadian, now, I embrace the role of an outsider, which gives me a unique perspective on India today, from the periphery. The alienation that I experience has strengthened my empathy towards others with similar experiences. I find common ground with artists from different communities, and I am inspired by other struggles that parallel those that matter to me. This is what underlies my interest in creating visual art that explores dissent in the shrinking democratic space around the world.
I am inspired by the expression of human agency in times of despair and, at times, annihilation. Through my practice I seek to tell the stories of those who occupy little space in the grand narratives of our world, minorities not only in terms of race, gender and religious affiliation, but also bold dissenters who refuse to be victims. I have created new body of work, a series that captures the spirit and act of dissent, in multiple forms and through multiple voices. I have therefore sought to create diverse portraits of dissent, with attention to the trauma and profound dignity attached to the act of expression of dissent.
As a visual artist, I explore media and material both in metaphorical and visceral terms. Having had a strong training in oil painting, watercolour, etc., I have worked with installation and video art as well since the mid 1990’s; I was part of an artist group that worked on installation for the first time in India. The work I present in this exhibition extends my prior work across media, to consider the traumas we face as communities, and together, and how we come together to fight the various battles that we face, as humans.
Raghavendra Rao (Raghu)