Monday, 16 September 2024
Monday, 16 September 2024
From Pablo Picasso’s Guernica to the songs that turned a generation of Americans into peaceniks opposing the Vietnam War, art in all its forms has always been part of protests. Bengal, angry and outraged over the rape and murder of a young doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, is no exception. As Calcutta witnesses what many feel is an unprecedented movement even for a city known as the city of protests, the street’s of Bengal’s capital have become a canvas for the expression of anger and outrage. Graffiti and murals depicting clenched fists, slogans, and symbolic images have emerged across the city. Local theatre groups have also performed plays dramatising the violence and institutional neglect, using art to both inform and mobilise the community.
A powerful graffiti stretches across a Calcutta road.
A graffiti within the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital premises reads, 'Sab yaad rakha jayega' (Everything will be remembered).
CISF personnel walk pass graffiti on Thursday, September 5, as doctors protest against the rape and murder of the trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Another graffiti from the hospital premises that says, 'Rasthra lukay dhorshok ke tayi rashtroi dhorshok' (The state hides the rapist, thus the state becomes the rapist).
Another striking graffiti in Calcutta says, 'Justice for RG Kar' alongside the words 'Ami bhoy chhara bacche chai' (I want to live without fear).
One more mural captures the fury of a city in mourning.
At Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, the appeal of a city anguished.
Another graffiti in the streets of the city says, 'Police tumi manush hou, ei juddhe samil hou' (Police become human, participate in this war/protest).
A graffiti on the streets depicts red-painted hands grabbing a woman whose face is etched with fear.
A graffiti on the road in front of Calcutta School Of Tropical Medicine (STM), on September 4.
Sanjita who lives in Baranagar performs a street play outside the Academy of Fine Arts with her team.
The protest art reaches Puri, where sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik showcases his creation on the incident that has enraged Bengal.
