Episode 7 of Opening Drinks is a two part conversation in response to Kirtika Kain and Sajan Mani's recent exhibition, Earth 200 CE at Verge in March 2022. The first conversation is between Kirtika and Verge director Tesha Malott that examines Kirtika's curatorial and artistic choices behind her recent exhibition. The second part is a discussion between Kirtika and her collaborator and fellow Dalit artist, Sajan Mani, and Indian writer Anisha Palat.
Kirtika Kain is a Sydney based artist who investigates caste identity through a material-rich and alchemical art practice. Born into the Dalit caste (formerly known as Untouchable) within India, Kain utilises materials that relate to themes of valuation, corporeality, ritual and tools of Dalit livelihood. By transforming and reclaiming these humble materials into aesthetic objects of value, Kain attempts to shift the personal and collective stigma of caste.
Sajan Mani is an intersectional artist hailing from a family of rubber tappers in a remote village in the northern part of Keralam, South India. His work voices the issues of marginalized and oppressed peoples of India, via the “Black Dalit body” of the artist. Mani’s performance practice insists upon embodied presence, confronting pain, shame, fear, and power. His personal tryst with his body as a meeting point of history and present opens onto “body” as socio-political metaphor
Anisha Palat is a current PhD candidate in History of Art, University of Edinburgh. Anisha’s experience of studying and working in the art world has included visual art, art history and art business. Anisha wrote the accompany exhibition text for Kirtika and Sajan's exhibition Earth 200 CE.
