JJust outside Anna University’s Kotturpuram gate is a freshly-painted mural that is impossible to miss. On the face of it, the artwork bursts with colours, faces, and some familiar scenes of Chennai. But at its heart, it speaks, perhaps louder than words, about the city’s queer community and the ‘everydayness’ of their lives.
This mural on Tamil queer identity, possibly the first public art installation of its kind in the city, was commissioned by Avtar Foundation of Arts in collaboration with the office of South Chennai MP Thamizhachi Thangapandian. The artwork, made over a span of five days by artists of Aravani Art Project and Anonymous Art Collective, as well as several volunteers from the queer community, was unveiled by the MP on Friday.
“We conceptualised and designed it to show queer people as ordinary people. Queerness is often seen as something entirely different from ‘normal’ – something that’s hypersexual or perverse. For me, this mural is about showing us living normal lives,” says Ghana, who works with the Aravani Art Project. “The idea is to take up space, unapologetically, loudly, and proudly. The entire palette is that of a pride flag,” she adds.
The artists also wanted to celebrate Chennai’s landscape and skyscape, which comes through vividly in the mural. It also pays homage to the textiles of Madras, with its intricate checks, says Dee, an artist and volunteer who worked on the project, adding that the piece, while speaking of visibility, has no hint of ‘queerbaiting’ (i.e., using art to draw members of the community without any meaningful representation).
