Rajyashri Goody
Rajyashri Goody
Picnic (2021)
Installation - Ceramics
8 feet in diameter
A recipe/poem and hundreds of ceramic objects resembling food items and elements from nature come together in a ring to form a ‘picnic’. ‘Picnic’ is both a text and a visual exploration inspired by Dalit writer Sharankumar Limbale’s experiences of being ostracised and discriminated against as a young school student in the 1960s in Maharashtra. The discrimination took place both inside the classroom as well as outside, on events such as these picnics; permeating a natural landscape, seemingly devoid of human intervention, with deep rooted practices of untouchability.
‘Picnic’ as a recipe invites the reader to attempt to put themselves in Limbale’s shoes, as if following step-by-step instructions that ultimately lead to a deeply uncomfortable situation. The ceramic objects, many resembling leaves and sticks as well as Maharashtrian food items like bhakris, papad, vadis, bhajjis, bhel, and so on, further add to the inedibility of the situation. I choose to use the ceramic medium also because of its associations with mud, soil, the earth, and, on firing, the fact that it has the potential to last thousands of years - like Dalit resilience.
Location: Gallery MMB, Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Mumbai
@ Rajyashri Goody
Rajyashri Goody is from Pune, India. She lives and works in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Goody completed her BA in Sociology at Fergusson College in Pune in 2011, and an MA in Visual Anthropology at the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology at the University of Manchester, England in 2013.
Goody's art practice is informed by her academic background and her Ambedkarite roots. Through writing, ceramics, photography, and sculpture, she attempts to decode and make visible instances of everyday power and resistance within Dalit communities in India.
In July 2018 she had a solo show, Eat With Great Delight, at Clark House Initiative, Mumbai. Selected group exhibitions include Hungry For Time, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria, 2021; At The Kitchen Table, One Shanthi Road, Bengaluru, 2021; Imprint After at Pulp Society, New Delhi, 2020; Sunnata Samanta at Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi, 2020; Look Outside This House at Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa, 2019; Body Building at Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai, 2019; Experiment with Truth, Sahmat, New Delhi, 2019; Within/Without, Asia House, London, 2018; Working Practices, The Showroom, London, 2018; Revelations: Reclaiming South Asian Narratives, Harvard University, Cambridge, 2018; and World Next Door, Khoj International, New Delhi, 2017. Her work has also been presented at literature festivals in India.
Goody is currently an artist-in-residence at the Rijksakademie Van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam.. Her previous residencies and fellowships took place at Art Omi, Ghent; ISCP, New York; Harvard University, Cambridge; Khoj International, New Delhi; Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju; Bamboo Curtain Studio, Taipei; Piramal Art Residency, Mumbai; and TIFA, Pune. In 2018, she was awarded the Emerging Artist Award by India Today.
Picnic (2021)
Installation - Ceramics
8 feet in diameter
A recipe/poem and hundreds of ceramic objects resembling food items and elements from nature come together in a ring to form a ‘picnic’. ‘Picnic’ is both a text and a visual exploration inspired by Dalit writer Sharankumar Limbale’s experiences of being ostracised and discriminated against as a young school student in the 1960s in Maharashtra. The discrimination took place both inside the classroom as well as outside, on events such as these picnics; permeating a natural landscape, seemingly devoid of human intervention, with deep rooted practices of untouchability.
‘Picnic’ as a recipe invites the reader to attempt to put themselves in Limbale’s shoes, as if following step-by-step instructions that ultimately lead to a deeply uncomfortable situation. The ceramic objects, many resembling leaves and sticks as well as Maharashtrian food items like bhakris, papad, vadis, bhajjis, bhel, and so on, further add to the inedibility of the situation. I choose to use the ceramic medium also because of its associations with mud, soil, the earth, and, on firing, the fact that it has the potential to last thousands of years - like Dalit resilience.
Location: Gallery MMB, Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Mumbai
About the artist
@ Rajyashri Goody
Rajyashri Goody is from Pune, India. She lives and works in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Goody completed her BA in Sociology at Fergusson College in Pune in 2011, and an MA in Visual Anthropology at the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology at the University of Manchester, England in 2013.
Goody's art practice is informed by her academic background and her Ambedkarite roots. Through writing, ceramics, photography, and sculpture, she attempts to decode and make visible instances of everyday power and resistance within Dalit communities in India.
In July 2018 she had a solo show, Eat With Great Delight, at Clark House Initiative, Mumbai. Selected group exhibitions include Hungry For Time, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria, 2021; At The Kitchen Table, One Shanthi Road, Bengaluru, 2021; Imprint After at Pulp Society, New Delhi, 2020; Sunnata Samanta at Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi, 2020; Look Outside This House at Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa, 2019; Body Building at Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai, 2019; Experiment with Truth, Sahmat, New Delhi, 2019; Within/Without, Asia House, London, 2018; Working Practices, The Showroom, London, 2018; Revelations: Reclaiming South Asian Narratives, Harvard University, Cambridge, 2018; and World Next Door, Khoj International, New Delhi, 2017. Her work has also been presented at literature festivals in India.
Goody is currently an artist-in-residence at the Rijksakademie Van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam.. Her previous residencies and fellowships took place at Art Omi, Ghent; ISCP, New York; Harvard University, Cambridge; Khoj International, New Delhi; Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju; Bamboo Curtain Studio, Taipei; Piramal Art Residency, Mumbai; and TIFA, Pune. In 2018, she was awarded the Emerging Artist Award by India Today.