{"id":769777,"date":"2022-09-06T07:41:31","date_gmt":"2022-09-06T11:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=769777"},"modified":"2022-09-06T08:42:58","modified_gmt":"2022-09-06T12:42:58","slug":"meat-markets-and-memory-asha-thadanis-photos-explore-indias-relationship-with-animals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=769777","title":{"rendered":"Meat, Markets and Memory: Asha Thadani\u2019s photos explore India\u2019s relationship with animals"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t

The food chain as a political construct runs through her photo series. Ideas such as speciesism, anthropomorphism, ecofeminism, animalism, vegetarianism and spiritualism convey our conflicted and inconsistent attitude towards animals.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\n

MANASI PHADKE:<\/strong> Processed goat heads lie on the counter. They are for sale. For many, meat markets are a culinary taboo. But even among them, some bazaars are completely out of bounds… And the people who look after it \u2014 the lowest in the pecking order. A young boy cuddles his dog. His love for the animal is evident from the way he holds it close. Does the hunter\u2019s son, who nurtures animals, see the irony of the situation? It\u2019s left to the viewer to decide.<\/em><\/p>\n

These photographs, which are part of Bangalore-based Asha Thadani\u2019s work, offer a glimpse into India\u2019s socio-cultural ethos and how it revolves around \u201cusing and abusing power to disadvantage those we outrank.\u201d She explores her theory through a series of photographs documenting the relationship of Indians with their animals and how it has changed through the years.<\/em><\/p>\n

The catalogue, titled Interbeing, is on exhibit at Mumbai\u2019s National Centre for Performing Arts from 11 to 21 August as part of the institution\u2019s celebrations marking 75 years of India\u2019s Independence. \u201cThe human-animal equation is a political idea. The man and animal engagement is best perceived and understood through the premise of power,\u201d Thadani tells ThePrint. \u201cIndia, where the presence of animals is so embedded in our social, cultural, religious and political thought, practice and dialogue, offers a range of possibilities to convey this fascinating story,\u201d she adds…<\/em><\/p>\n

The exhibition of 45 photographs \u2014 all in grayscale\u2014puts forth the incongruities in Indian culture in relation to the many political \u2018-isms\u2019 of today. \u201cThe food chain as a political construct runs through the series. Ideas such as speciesism, anthropomorphism, ecofeminism, animalism, vegetarianism and spiritualism convey our conflicted and inconsistent attitude towards animals,\u201d says Thadani.<\/em><\/p>\n

For instance, \u2018speciesism\u2019\u2014the assumption of human superiority over animals\u2014comes through from images such as men forcing oxen to jump through a wall of burning haystacks. The photograph, which was shot at Karnataka\u2019s Mandya to mark the \u2018Kicchu Harisodu\u2019 ceremony during the Makar Sankranti festival, was nothing less than stupefying. The shots of a line of elephants and their mahouts at Rajasthan\u2019s Amer Fort offering a ride to tourists, on the other hand, are a more subtle reminder. In contrast, a photo from a temple of Rajasthan\u2019s Bishnoi community shows how they have been natural conservationists, nurturing deer bitten by wild dogs…<\/em><\/p>\n

Thadani, a self-taught photographer, says she decided to depict the power struggle of humans in India across cultures through their relationship with their animals.\u201cWith time the interactions between them evolved and transformed to favour man,\u201d she says. Thadani\u2019s photo from Mandya\u2019s Kicchu Harisodu ceremony, where the oxen are made to jump through blazing fire, is a testament to this. After all, the human ability to get over the fear of fire was among the first things that gave men an edge over animals.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thadani says that while all nations have a unique relationship with animals native to their land, none is perhaps as \u201ccomplex, rich, ambivalent and bewildering\u201d as the one in India. Animals live deep inside India\u2019s racial memory… In contrast to a time when animals were aiding India\u2019s evolutionary and socio-cultural journey, today, there are environmental and political forces shaping diets, perception of animals and through this lens, people\u2019s perception of each other. \u201cAnimals and meat have become more ethically and emotionally challenging than ever before,\u201d she says. And this is exactly what she feels makes her catalogue especially relevant now. SOURCE…<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

RELATED VIDEOS:<\/strong><\/p>\n