CHENNAI: In a city where galleries often reflect dominant narratives, ‘The Whole Story’ arrives as both an intervention and an invitation. Presented by the Neelam Cultural Centre and Neelam Arts Collective, the fifth edition of the Dalit Aesthetics Art Show brings together 36 artists from across India.
Rooted in anti-caste thought and Ambedkarite ideas, the exhibition explores Dalit lifeworlds through memory, resistance, and self-expression, foregrounding art as a space of dignity and cultural reclamation.
At its core is a simple but powerful provocation: that what we know is incomplete. “Many times, there are very typical, single stories about Dalit people: their lives, contributions and histories. These narratives have shaped perception in limiting ways.
The idea behind The Whole Story is to claim a space to present the fullness of Dalit life and contributions across different spheres. There is a long history of erasure, and what we are trying to do is bring that invisible history into the foreground and present it as it truly exists,” says curator Natarajan Gangadharan
That idea of ‘fullness’ runs through the exhibition, not as a single narrative, but as a gathering of voices. Of the 36 participating artists, 29 are from Tamil Nadu and seven from other parts of the country, with eight women artists contributing works that engage deeply with questions of gender and visibility.
Natarajan points to his own work in the show, which foregrounds six Dalit women leaders whose contributions remain largely absent from mainstream accounts. “The idea is to bring into focus figures who have done incredible work in different movements and fields, but who are not really present in the way history is written or circulated today. These are not minor omissions; they tell us something about how memory is structured, and whose presence is considered important enough to retain,” he says.
This concern with historical absence finds another powerful expression in the work of Mumbai-based artist Shrujana N Shridhar, which reimagines the Mahad Satyagraha, placing Dr BR Ambedkar alongside women who participated in the movement. “When we speak about the Mahad Satyagraha, it is often described as the first satyagraha in the country, and we are approaching its centenary in 2027.
But even in such a significant moment, the visual and narrative memory we inherit is incomplete. There were women present, there were multiple layers of participation, but these do not always appear in how history is told. This work tries to visualise that absence and ask what it means to write history without acknowledging everyone who shaped it,” says organiser Prema Revathi.
Together, these works articulate what the exhibition’s title suggests: that there is always more to the story than what is commonly told and that recovering it requires both imagination and insistence. The exhibition is part of the Vaanam Art Festival, an annual initiative that brings together artists, thinkers and audiences to engage with questions of social justice, identity, and creative expression.
For the Neelam Cultural Centre, this is also tied to a longer practice of marking April, the birth month of Dr. BR Ambedkar, as a time for reflection and dialogue.
“For the past five years, we have been observing April as a Dalit History Month. The idea is to create a cultural momentum, to open up questions around equality, gender, caste, and everything that Ambedkar spoke about. We believe all forms of art: films, documentaries, photography, visual art and theatre can enter people’s minds and provoke discussion. Cultural transformation is very important to us, and visual art plays a key role because it is such an intimate and powerful medium,” says Natarajan.
This year’s exhibition is also shaped by months of preparation, including a workshop held earlier in February with artists and scholars such as Professor YS Alone and artist Riyas Komu, focusing on Ambedkarite aesthetics.
“We spent time thinking about how to define an aesthetic rooted in anti-caste thought, what it means in terms of medium, form, and narrative. From those discussions, we arrived at this year’s focus on history, erasure, and pride. There is pain in these histories, but there is also a strong sense of pride that people carry. Both these aspects are present in the works this year,” Revathi explains.
For filmmaker and Neelam founder Pa Ranjith, the continued urgency of such work lies in the persistence of caste itself and the reluctance to confront it openly. “People often say caste has been annihilated, but that is not true. It still exists in many ways, not just in isolated sections but across the country. The problem is that it is still not treated as a mainstream discussion. That is why spaces like these are important, we need to make caste something that can be spoken about openly and critically,” he says.
He sees art shows like 'The Whole Story' as creating that possibility. “In these spaces, it is not just Dalits who are participating. People from different backgrounds are coming in, engaging and questioning. Because we are working across different art forms, more people are noticing and responding. There is interest, there is criticism, but there is also dialogue, and that is important,” he adds.
Recalling the early days of Neelam’s initiatives, he notes how the reception has evolved. “Initially, there was a lot of attention, partly because a filmmaker was starting something like this, but there was also criticism, questions about why caste should be brought into art. Over time, that has changed. More mainstream audiences are coming in now, and there is a willingness to engage. That shift itself is significant,” he says. ‘The Whole Story’ will remain open to the public till April 18 at Lalit Kala Akademi.