Ela Spotting: Artist Devi Seetharam in Ela India

I had the privilege of viewing artist Devi Seetharam’s work ‘Brothers, Fathers and Uncles’ at the Lokame Tharavadu exhibit at the end of 2021, and then again last year at the Kochi Biennale. It moved me and so many others I know, especially women, for highlighting an aspect of life in public spaces that isn’t articulated as often as it needs to be- that men and patriarchy by extension, dominate public spaces.

“In a part of the world that claims to be matriarchal but is only matrilineal in social customs, the patriarchy is deeply entrenched. Men wield the authority to occupy public spaces, and the traditional white mundu is a symbol of their purity, legitimising their self-granted sense of status and morality,” says the artist in an interview to Vogue’s Akshaya Pillai.