Clicking through Delhi gallery DAG’s online show Ways Of Seeing offers a sense both of the freedom and constriction that women as artists feel. The work ranges from tight canvases that practically overwhelm the viewer to ones with wider, looser strokes, but all the art by women in the show—which we have reviewed in this issue—has an underlying theme of the burdens of patriarchy. It’s a show that makes one think about the ways in which the female perspective differs from the male, a point our review makes, and an idea to ponder on ahead of Women’s Day on Monday.
Many of the stories this week focus on gender, though we didn’t really plan it that way. For our cover story, we go behind the scenes at Good Earth, a 25-year-old lifestyle brand imagined and brought into being by an all-women team to promote an Indian aesthetic in a country that was rapidly taking to Western styles of living and consuming.
Also in this issue is an interview with Saurabh Kirpal, one of the lawyers fighting for the LGBTQ+ community’s right to marriage. Last week, the Union government told the Delhi high court in an affidavit that it is opposed to marriage rights for the community. Kirpal tells Lounge why the fight for this right is about the core idea of how the Constitution views the individual. For the LGBTQ+ community, equality is still not a given. Every country has laws and resolutions which signal that gender equality is desirable. Even if these instruments are often just cited and then violated, their presence represents a consensus, however insincere, on the need for equal rights for women. In the case of LGBTQ+ rights, however, consensus on this seemingly simple aspect of recognising the need for equality is absent.
There’s also some lighter reading: Chefs weigh in on why egg fried rice is such a favourite in India and provide tips to make the perfect bowl, and we have watch and read recommendations for your weekend as usual.
Write to the Lounge editor shalini.umachandran@htlive.com @shalinimb
