We are between milestones. In April this year, Varta completed 100 monthly issues, and tomorrow (August 1), the webzine itself will turn nine. On June 3, Varta as a volunteer group completed 10 years.

Among several other events to mark the occasion (full report coming up in August 2022), Varta Trust organized a gender and sexuality-themed art workshop on July 3, 2022. The workshop was for anyone and everyone interested in having fun with lines, shapes and colours, accomplished artist or not.

This is a group photograph of all the art workshop participants standing or seated in two rows. In the front row (left to right) are participants Soumyajit, Swati and Shreyatama; in the back row (left to right) are participants Aniruddha, Ranjay, Pawan, Susanta and Souvik, and workshop moderator Rudra. Everyone is smiling brightly; one person is flashing victory signs. Photo credit: Prabhati Mandal

Group photo at the art workshop – front row (left to right) participants Soumyajit, Swati and Shreyatama; back row (left to right) participants Aniruddha, Ranjay, Pawan, Susanta and Souvik, and workshop moderator Rudra. Photo credit: Prabhati Mandal

A motley mix of eight people engaged with the arts, social work, journalism and photography turned up at Kalinath Angan on the evening of July 3 to participate in a workshop moderated by Kolkata-based painter, graphic designer and Varta volunteer Rudra Kishore Mandal.

Kalinath Angan is a new art gallery and workshop space recently opened in South Kolkata that is welcoming of queer people and their artistic initiatives.

Pawan Dhall, Founding Trustee, Varta Trust (also a workshop participant) shared a brief history and objectives of the organization and Varta webzine. He presented some of the pages from the Varta website and talked about the diverse issues around gender and sexuality that Varta Trust engages with and presents through the webzine.

Rudra explained that the participants could focus on one or more of the issues or themes and visualize them through artworks that could later be converted into Varta Trust’s profile material like bookmarks and posters. In addition, all the artworks would be displayed online in an exhibition of sorts (this article).

Aniruddha, a young professional, called for ‘smashing patriarchy’ and expanding the meaning of ‘family’ through his posters. Photographer Shreyatama depicted violence prevalent in the lives of queer people, but also that queer pride can be an instrument of resistance against the violence.

This illustration is a stylized panel with a collage of three photographs that show art workshop participant Aniruddha’s creations. On the top left is a poster that says in large, multi-coloured text: “Roses r red, my mood iz blue, let’s smash the patriarchy, me and you”. A heart with rainbow colours and a red rose accompany the text. On the right side of the panel is another poster with the slogan: “We all are family”. The text is accompanied with pencil sketches of humans that depict diverse forms of relationships and families. On the bottom left is a photo of Aniruddha holding up one of his creations at chest level and facing the camera with a smile. Photo credits: Rudra Kishore Mandal and Swati Das. Photo collage credit: Arkadeepra Purkayastha

This illustration is a stylized panel with two photographs that show art workshop participant Shreyatama’s creation. On the left side is a water colour painting of the trunk of a large denuded tree that seems to be shedding blood-red leaves. The foliage below the tree is a mix of yellow, brown and green. Small rainbow pride flags can also be seen interspersed in the foliage. Part of a large rainbow pride banner is fluttering above the tree and a stream of red is flowing just past the tree. The artist seems to be depicting the violence prevalent in the lives of queer people, but also that queer pride can be an instrument of resistance against the violence. On the right side of the panel is a photo of Shreyatama holding up her creation at chest level and facing the camera. Photo credits: Rudra Kishore Mandal and Swati Das. Photo collage credit: Arkadeepra Purkayastha

Artist Ranjay, studying fine arts in Kolkata and with roots in Jalpaiguri district in North Bengal, attempted to show the prevalence of both masculinity and femininity in an individual. Journalist Soumyajit presented their take on asexuality, while artist Souvik wanted to convey the idea that human sexuality is not a black and white affair.

This illustration is a stylized panel with two photographs that show art workshop participant Ranjay’s creation. On the left side is a striking water colour painting of a genderqueer person – someone who appears to be assigned male at birth, dressed in a saree and blouse with a padded bra, and their head covered with a cloth resembling a ‘dupatta’. They are also wearing a necklace. The person is partially hidden behind some foliage. The background is a smudged mix of dark and bright colours. On the right side of the panel is a photo of Ranjay holding up his creation at chest level and facing the camera. Photo credits: Rudra Kishore Mandal and Swati Das. Photo collage credit: Arkadeepra Purkayastha

This illustration is a stylized panel with two photographs that show art workshop participant Soumyajit’s creation. On the left side is a horizontally oriented water colour painting of a large poster-sized playing card that presents the artist’s take on asexuality. Given that asexuality is often shortened as ace and represented by the symbol of ace seen on playing cards, the artist has shown a female or queen’s figure with an ace of hearts and a male or king’s figure with an ace of spades. While the queen’s figure may be representative of a female asexual person, the king may stand for a male asexual person. Moreover, the ace of hearts and the ace of spades can be symbolic of romantic asexuality and aromantic asexuality, respectively. The queen’s figure is in red, while the king’s is in blue. The two figures are painted horizontally side-by-side and have their heads in opposing directions. They are conjoined in the middle with two heart shapes, a red and a blue one. On the right side of the panel is a photo of Soumyajit holding up their creation at chest level and facing the camera with a smile. Photo credits: Rudra Kishore Mandal and Swati Das. Photo collage credit: Arkadeepra Purkayastha

This illustration is a stylized panel with a collage of four photographs that show art workshop participant Souvik’s creations. To the right side of the panel is a photo of Souvik holding up his creations – three artworks on a single white chart paper – at chest level and facing the camera with a smile. On three sides of Souvik’s photo are blow-ups of each of his artworks. Two of them are designed like bookmarks. One of them represents an array of human faces in diverse colours, symbolic of diverse genders and sexualities. A second one attempts to depict the significance of mental health. The third artwork is a squarish illustration that shows silhouettes of two human faces in grey and black, their heads spangled with stars, on a backdrop of rainbow colours. This artwork symbolizes queer relationships and is signed at the bottom by the artist. Photo credits: Rudra Kishore Mandal and Swati Das. Photo collage credit: Arkadeepra Purkayastha

Social worker Susanta made a pertinent statement: “My dreams matter”. In a second artwork, he tried to convey that ‘playing it safe’ is a crucial part of loving someone.

This illustration is a stylized panel with a collage of three photographs that show art workshop participant Susanta’s creations. To the bottom right side of the panel is a photo of Susanta holding up one of his creations at chest level and facing the camera with a smile. The same creation is visible right above the first photo. Inside a circle is a line sketch of a person genderqueer in appearance. Around the circle are a number of statements in Bengali that convey the stigma and discrimination faced by queer people, and the impact on the mental health of queer people. These statements are written within geometric shapes, all bounded within a larger square. A large thought cloud is painted outside the square. Inside a large blue flowery shape is a heart shape painted in brown-red. Below this figure is text that translated into English says, “My dreams have value too”. To the left of these photos is a third one, vertically oriented, that shows the line sketch of a giant personified condom, standing up like a human, with a bright red smile and large round eyes. The condom ring is at the bottom and the tip at the top. Right next to the tip is text that translated into English says, “I love you”. The artist has signed both his creations in the margins. Photo credits: Rudra Kishore Mandal and Swati Das. Photo collage credit: Arkadeepra Purkayastha

Both Pawan and Swati, a social worker and Varta Trust employee, went back to school, picking up crayons after decades together. Swati visualized a rainbow umbrella that would bring together people with different genders and sexualities. Pawan presented an abstract that environmental protection is of utmost importance – if our physical world becomes inhabitable, there is little point talking about rainbow pride or any kind of love.

This illustration is a stylized panel with a collage of two photographs that show art workshop participant Swati’s creation. On the left side is a vertically rectangular image of the painting of a giant rainbow-coloured umbrella. The unfurled umbrella is placed on an open meadow of green and brown. On the horizon are two same-sex couples with the umbrella covering them and providing them protection. High above the umbrella are blue clouds and birds flying in a white sky. Though not drawn to scale, the painting has a childlike charm. The artwork has been created with pencil and crayons on a chart paper. On the right side of the panel is a photo of Swati holding up her creation at chest level and facing the camera with a smile. Photo credit: Rudra Kishore Mandal. Photo collage credit: Arkadeepra Purkayastha

This illustration is a stylized panel with a collage of two photographs that show art workshop participant Pawan’s creation. On the left side is a close-up shot of the creation, a multi-coloured heart shape with abstract patterns, which is connected to a green mesh of leaves and tendrils. The colours used in the heart shape are the same as those present in a rainbow pride flag. The artwork seems to signify a connection between the issues of gender and sexuality diversity and environmental preservation. The artwork has been created with crayons on a chart paper. On the right side of the panel is a photo of Pawan holding up his creation at chest level and facing the camera with a smile. Photo credit: Rudra Kishore Mandal and Swati Das. Photo collage credit: Arkadeepra Purkayastha

This photograph is an indoor long shot of an art workshop organized to celebrate 100 monthly issues of ‘Varta’ webzine. The workshop participants are seated on plastic chairs in a large three-quarter circle, with some of their creations placed on the floor in the centre. The participants seem to be describing and discussing the techniques used for their artworks and the meaning of their artworks. Behind them are the walls of the workshop venue, a well-lit room with a few paintings hanging on the walls. On the far-right side of the hall are the closed glass doors of the venue. In the foreground, to the left, partially visible are some more of the creations placed on a table. The discussion seen in the photograph was the concluding activity of the workshop. Photo credit: Swati Das

Photo credit: Swati Das

After the participants had finished work on their pieces, they shared and discussed each other’s artworks. Rudra facilitated the session, assisting them in articulating their thoughts.

Even if experimental and a small affair, the workshop was enjoyable and actually therapeutic, at least for this author. The unanimous conclusion was that Varta Trust must organize more such events on a larger scale. So, do look out for announcements on more such events on our Facebook page and this website.

About the main illustration: Scenes from the art workshop in progress. All photo credits Rudra Kishore Mandal and Swati Das (unless otherwise stated). Photo collages courtesy Arkadeepra Purkayastha

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