AVAL (Her) - A photoseries by Keerthana Kunnath and Medhini Kar

Words by Shrey Kathuria

In South Asia, the discourse around same-sex relationships come bundled with negative connotations that have stigmatised the notion of sexuality in many South Asian communities. Through hyper-sexualised heteronormative narratives, the mainstream cinema has influenced and endorsed ignorant standards of love, romance and beauty in countries like India, resulting in the othering of the LGBTQ+ community. Foremost amongst these complexities is also the undisputed convention of imagining ‘Her’ as a passive recipient of the male gaze, object of vision, or a sight. ’Aval’ (her) is a visual investigation into the voices of the LGBTQ+ community that explores and destabilises the heteronormative discourse around same-sex relationships within South Asian cultures. This work also aims to transgress the mainstream conventions of gender roles that endorse chauvinistic and prejudiced perspectives around the socio-politcal complexities of beauty in countries like India.

Keerthana says:

“Through ‘Aval’, my intent is to reimagine the artistic frameworks of visuals that have normalised the othering of same-sex relationships in the recent past, and to put forth a dialogue that scrutinises not only the mainstream discourse, but also deflate the societal conventions around self-expression, sexuality and the heteronormative ideals of beauty amongst other things. In doing so, I borrow from the methods of Arpita Singh and Amrita Sher Gill who have given the society a spectacle to an unmasked portrait of women as opposed to the male artists of the time”.

In ‘Aval’ (her), we demonstrate narratives that portray the vulnerable, yet comforting safe space between two people that transcend the barriers of heteronormative gender roles, colour and sexuality in context with the South Asian LGBTQ+ community. Additionally, this visual series also argues the othering of non-conformist relationships in the mainstream cinema, which is primarily led and gatekept by male filmmakers and image-makers. We do so through a series of images that are anchored to uncover the politics of gender and our perception of it. As mentioned above, showing intimacy between the same-sex couples reveals several layers of politics that are undisputed within the South Asian communities as opposed to heteronormative relationships. It is worth asking if this heteronormativity is a result of a social conditioning that is embedded into the fabric of the South Asian society – a society whose perception towards sexuality, liberty of expression and beauty has been predominantly shaped and influenced by the mainstream discourse that includes advertising and cinema. ‘Aval’ is an iterative exercise that foregrounds these politics through an ethnographic approach that stems from a combination of interpersonal experiences of the South Asian LGBTQ+ community – while simultaneously destabilising the notion of ‘ideal’ beauty standards that emanate from the patriarchal vision of the South Asian community.

Medhini says:

“It was a conscious choice to collaborate with London based gender fluid WANA+SA designers like Amesh Wijesekera, Alighieri and Qasimi for styling. It was to draw attention to the vulnerabilities attached to me growing up in India, being a part of the multicultural society now and then, and what it meant for me to translate all of our individual design ideologies as creatives in the community on subjects concerning gender, beauty, freedom and representation into this beautifully compiled body of work”.