Art collectives and legal aid initiatives highlighted the role of the Constitution in daily life at the ‘Living The Constitution’ event held in Bengaluru this Tuesday.
Several stalls were set up at the venue, Sabha Bengaluru, by these groups in keeping with the theme, displaying exhibits on aspects of the Constitution. One of the centrepiece displays at the events was by Reclaim Constitution, with key extracts from the Constituent Assembly debates displayed on posters along with the original artwork of the Constitution.
Alongside these were biographical posters on the “founding mothers” of the Constitution (the 15 women in the Constituent Assembly – Ammu Swaminathan, Dakshayani Velayudhan, Begum Aizaz Rasul, Durgabai Deshmukh, Hansa Mehta, Kamla Choudhury, Leela Roy, Malati Choudhury, Purnima Bannerjee, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Renuka Ray, Sarojini Naidu, Sucheta Kriplani, Vijayalakshmi Pandit and Annie Mascarene). Reclaim Constitution also displayed archival material from shortly after Independence, featuring deliberations on the making of the national flag and the dimensions and stitching pattern that were finally selected.
Among the other groups present was the Aravani Art Project, which is composed of trans and cisgender women artists. They showcased various artworks, including those symbolising the struggles of the transgender community. The Queer Archive for Memory, Reflection, and Activism also used a video display to highlight the history of LGBT activism in India, from early Pride parades to media coverage through the decades.
Dhwani Legal Trust, which works on accessibility of legal aid, highlighted the issue of caste discrimination and the solutions to the problem.
The event also included a panel discussion with speakers, including noted Kannada writer Abdul Rehman Pasha, Professor Maidul Islam of the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, and Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy co-founder Alok Prasanna Kumar.
The day also included a dance interpreting the event’s theme by the Sahachaari Dance Group.