Tongue Tied: Highlighting under appreciated cultural elements through photography and art
The creative arts have always been a weapon for self-expression, social and political commentary, and highlighting tradition. As such, Habiba Nowrose, a lens-based artist, is passionate in talking about women's rights, gender identity, and mythology through her work. She is also keen on illustrating the simplicity of Bengali culture through her work, which is meticulously prepared as she takes detailed mental notes of the objects, colours, and patterns, which fascinate her and ingrains that into her work. Her creative eye plays a crucial function in her image creation.
As a lens-based artist, Habiba not only refers to photography, as she believes that only photography does not fully capture the essence of her work. Starting from her setup, stage preparations, shooting process, and articulating the scene of the photo, there is a lot that goes into capturing her vision. She uses this platform to express herself and her ideals given her passion for the arts from her very childhood. She was unable to pursue her passion until university, which led her to traditional fine arts and photography. Additionally, her academic background in gender studies allowed her to understand society's gender and sexual politics better, which inspired her to work with gender issues. Her curiosity to explore more intricacies for Bengali society has always been prevalent and has led to her exhibition 'Tongue Tied,' launched back on 25 February, 2022 and will continue until 10 March, 2022, at Alliance Française.
The theme of this exhibition is the heritage and tradition we tend to shun. Using food items, something similar to assemblage, Habiba sculpts her subject in a setting that would make the audience see something unique yet familiar. As Bengalis, food items like 'Shutki,' 'Bhuri', 'Moa,' 'Hawai Mithai' are part and parcel of our souls. However, with modern days and the elitist mentality, some rarely admit to loving these foods in public. At times, there is an element of discomfort and inferiority associated with admiring these traditional foods. Habiba's 'Tongue Tied' addresses this discomfort and the stigma surrounding these culturally unique items that shape our identity.
Habiba also integrates textile into her work. There are certain kinds of clothes which we tend to associate with lower classes and lacking sophistication. With the minimalist trend being so popular, someone might consider loud, bold colours to be distasteful. Habiba's work aims to change perceptions by taking these traditional, simple clothes, that people do not often acknowledge as tasteful, and present it in an idiosyncratic manner.
Habiba says, "I've tried to keep these elements in my art present. Particularly, the element of discomfort which is associated with basic traditional clothes and food items, which are unique aspects of who we are as Bengalis."
Unlike most artists, Habiba does not try to tell a holistic story through her portraits and photographs. Rather, she takes her concept and derives her inspiration to create an overall conceptual illustration. Essentially, the audience does not see a story or a journey of her subject, but experiences a concept in different shapes. In 'Tongue Tied,' the audience experiences the modern day discomfort associated with multiple foods and clothing, through various shapes and sculptures.
By Puja Sarkar
Photo: Habiba Nowrose