Permanent marker

Installation. Ink drawing on 130 Gandhi topis displayed like clothes left to dry.

The recent anti-corruption surge has made Gandhi topi popular once again. I have used it as a ground and drawn motifs on them. I have drawn symbols of some existing party symbols and many which are sourced from the Election Commission of India website where ECI has listed new symbols available for anybody starting a fresh party. Some images are probable / fictional or cooked up party symbols. The idea of hanging the topis like this is to establish the idea of - washing the dirty linen in public - kind of association. I have called it 'Permanent marker', because the action of the political class leaves permanent mark / scar on the nation and peoples lives. The tone is that of humour / sarcasm / irony. It also suggests fragmented polity and a political scenario bordering on chaos. But I’m sure there are many more ways of reading / misreading them.