A four-week exhibition in Somerville, Massachusetts, brought together visual art, poetry and music by more than 40 Dalit and Bahujan artists in April 2022.
The project was organised by Adavi Myah, an arts collective led by Dalit and Bahujan women. Founded in 2018, its name combines words from Telugu and Chhattisgarhi translated as “Love of the Forest.”
Artists speaking on their own terms
The exhibition sought to make caste-oppressed communities visible within the United States through work selected and presented by people sharing related histories and experiences.
Co-founder Dolly Arjun argued that mainstream representations of India had often excluded Dalit, Bahujan and Indigenous narratives. Popular cinema, spirituality, food and visual imagery could create a simplified national identity while leaving caste-based oppression largely unfamiliar to American audiences.
By presenting artists as complex members of living communities, the exhibition aimed to move beyond images defined only by suffering. The work addressed resilience, identity, emotion and social conditions through several creative forms.
A curatorial model based on solidarity
Participating artist Sanghapal Uttam Mhaske described the exhibition as a space where artists and curators shared beliefs, emotions and history. He contrasted this with a market-driven art world in which work about hardship could be detached from the communities that produced it.
The exhibition had been developed over two years and delayed by the pandemic. Adavi Myah did not charge submission fees, and all proceeds from sales were directed to the artists.
This structure was part of the exhibition’s meaning. Representation was accompanied by practical control over selection, presentation and income.
The Somerville project established a platform for Dalit and Bahujan artists within the United States while challenging the cultural narratives through which Indian identity was commonly understood abroad.