Exploring masculinities through visual interrogations
How Do You See aims to discover– together with teenagers and young adults in Kolkata, Guwahati, and Shillong – the many contours of masculinity. Encouraging a viewing of masculinity as a dynamic sociocultural construct, these workshops will guide participants through dismantling conventional rigidities and accompany them to an understanding of multiple masculinities – each different and each equally authentic.
Through a variety of lively discussions, visual voyages and lens-based navigations, participants will re-examine dialogues about the meaning of masculinities and their explorations in the world today. They will engage in a variety of activities which will help them to recode meaning systems of objects through creative interventions; break apart the concept beyond the body into the mind and question acquired behavioral legacies and cognitive prejudices through theatrical enactments.
Through the three day workshop, the participants will also gain an understanding of basic photo and video vocabulary as tools to inquire visual tropes of masculinity. Making portraits of themselves, their friends and families, and filming everyday masculine reflections around them, they will be invited to unravel the invisible layers of masculinities palpable everywhere. Through zine and collage-making activities, participants will be encouraged to look within and reflect upon their personal conceptions of masculinities.
Culminating in a pop-up exhibition, these workshops hope to create a space where conversations may be fostered between the participants and their families, that problematize simple notions of man, male, and masculinity.
This workshop is designed for teenagers within the framework of a larger two-year project titled M3 - Man, Male, Masculinity initiated by Goethe-Institut Chennai and co-conceptualized and co-ideated by Goethe-Institut New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Bangladesh.
M3 link:
https://www.goethe.de/ins/in/en/kul/soc/mmm.html
Six workshops are being organized in a variety of schools in Kolkata, Guwahati and Shillong and will be conducted by two young trainers Sudeshna Saha Roy and Ritaban Ghosh.
Details of the workshop conductors:
© Sudeshna Saha Roy
SUDESHNA SAHA ROY
Sudeshna is an academic researcher and writer who oscillates between Kolkata and Delhi. Along with her literary and academic works, Sudeshna has been using photography as a major medium of expression. Her research arena mainly explores the implications of culture, politics and local histories in our daily lives. Currently, she is also working on an interdisciplinary project that investigates the relationship between subjectivity and the profession of care workers.
© Ritaban Ghosh
RITABAN GHOSH
Ritaban Ghosh is a photographer working with literature, objects, and power. Through his practice, he explores the possibilities of fiction and documentary and their intervening capacity with compassionate scrutiny.
Participation in the workshop is only open to the students of the participating schools.
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