Wedlocked

Art as a way of creating dialogue about the dark side of cultural practices

Recent undergraduate work usually doesn’t get a lot of attention, but that wasn’t the case with Trishna Adnani’s Wedlock art exhibition, displayed in Galerie Havelka in Prague from February the 2nd until February 24th, 2022. In this exhibition, the Anglo-American University’s Visual Arts student explores the connection of Indian toxic cultural practices that lead to domestic violence against women, such as child marriage and dowry system, which as Adnani explains, “are illegal and unethical but still carried out”.

Inspired mainly by two major Pakistani artists, Misha Japanwala and Ali Xeeshan, both fashion designers and feminist activists, Adnani created the story of Ruby; a fictional tale of a young bride told through a three-part artistic installation: a faceless manikin wearing a traditional wedding gown with gold-painted objects laying on the floor, broken painted mirrors hung on one wall and eight digital prints placed on the other side of the room.

This multi-piece exhibition could be deciphered as follows: The golden laid objects represented all of the young girl’s burdens and responsibilities, the graphic patterns which repeated themselves from the walls onto the fabric of the dress narrated her story of domestic abuse, the hard-plaster top-part of the dummy denoted the marital cage in which she was now trapped in, and the broken glass was meant to be herself reflected into the future, filled with despair.

Conceptually the work was remarkable, the pieces spoke to each other. It was not too graphic but still strong enough to evoke emotion in order for the audience to connect with Ruby, but also, for them to gain conscience that this actually represents not one, but all of the young women who go through this drama.

The exhibition got a lot of media attention, the opening was well-attended and the gallery actively promoted it. With this modest yet meaningful piece, Trishna has helped spark a dialogue into this theme of abuse. “I'm just happy that this topic about a different country is getting out there, and I even got to learn that domestic violence is also a thing that happens a lot in this country. aI believe a lot of people reached out as well because to see it from another perspective I think, it's interesting for them” stated the artist.

Being of Indian origin, Adnani managed to dig into her roots and expose her culture, even things that she is not so proud of. The young artist possesses a great passion for working with different media, from painting, sculpture, film, photography and all the way to digital art, and she plans to continue in the line of activism and conceptual art, bringing light to serious issues through her craft.

By Daniela Basila