நிறம்

color

2

What does it mean to be brown, Tamil? A Dalit? Is it one thing? Are there different shades? பழுப்பு, Brown, Sepia

These intimate portraits by photographers Palani Kumar and Hairunisha, focuses the lived experiences of their mothers—Tamil women whose bodies narrate stories of resilience, labor, and identity. Palani’s images capture his mother in her roles as a fisherwoman and homemaker, embodying the strength and tenderness of working-class Tamil women. Kumar's images capture his mother as she balances her roles as a fisherwoman and homemaker, embodying the strength and tenderness of working-class Tamil women. Hairunisha’s portraits explore her mother’s skin and body as records of time, motherhood. Arranged in patterns, these photographs are a reflection on how labor, identity, and heritage shape and mark the body, creating layered meanings within the shared cultural and familial narratives.

Are there different shades? The brown of the soil, where the kolam sits. The brown of my body. Is there a difference between these two. Both violated, falling and raising together.

Raising together.

3

Are there different shades? Red, சிவப்பு

Invited to perform an intervention in the exhibition, artist Rocky Mol placed an apple in the context of these works. Observing the wrinkled, skin-like texture of aged apples, Rocky weaves the fruit into her biographical storytelling, using it as a metaphor for the complexities of identity, the passage of time, and the quiet strength found in vulnerability. Throughout history, apples have captivated artists and scholars alike, symbolizing themes of temptation, knowledge, and renewal. From the forbidden fruit in the story of Adam and Eve, to Greek mythology’s apples of immortality, this simple fruit carries profound cultural weight. Its duality—offering both sustenance and danger—has made it a timeless, universal metaphor for human struggle, desire, and transformation. In Rocky’s works, the apple continues to be a symbol of social exclusion due to Caste, hope for love and equality through painting and photography. The apple represents both nourishment and division—a fruit that is accessible to some yet withheld from others.

4

This section presents journalistic works by Palani and Hairunisha that capture acts of solidarity through scenes of domestic and civic labor, portraying the strength of individuals and communities as a mesh.

Is there a boundary between public and domestic? Kolam seeks to act as a portal connecting these spaces, questioning the relationship. Is the action of wearing a saree or not wearing one political? Politics of pleats. சேலை

Saree being used as a cradle

Domestic labour of Women in Thuravikadu

Rita akka, a sanitation worker who is also carer of stray dogs

Ezhil anna, an artist, a clown bringing art and joy to rural Tamil Nadu

Chennai Pride march

Moment of rest, support during Nurse’s strike against the government

The photographs are documentations of anguish, rejoice, resilience and resistance.

She does domestic chores

She dances within closed doors

They hold hands in public

She holds her hand up for republic

The exhibition is an intentionally inept documentation. It claims success in accepting the failure to capture the entirety of what it means to be a Tamil.