How the Constitution inspires artists

The story of the artwork in the Constitution is just as fascinating as the drafting of the document, which has served as the framework for civic rights and liberties since India became a republic on 26 January 1950, seventy-five years ago. Nandalal Bose worked with his students at Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan, over the course of approximately four years to create 28 illustrations and 234 decorative borders depicting different epochs, from the Indus Valley Civilisation to the struggle for Independence, with real gold spray. The calligraphy for the English version was created by Prem Behari Narain Raizada, who used 432 pen holder nibs to ink 1,17,369 words in nearly five months on parchment sheets produced by the Handmade Paper Institute in Pune.

In an article for Heritage Lab, a digital repository of stories from museums worldwide, with a focus on South Asian art and culture, art and history enthusiast Arunesh Varade explains that three generations of a family worked on the document—Gauri Bhanja and Jamuna Sen were Nandalal Bose’s daughters, and Amala Sarkar, his granddaughter, the youngest in the team at age 21. Then there was Nibedita Bose, Bani Patel and Sumitra Narayan, who studied in Kala Bhavan from 1949-53 under the guidance of Gauri Bhanja. “Women have often been written out of history. What is astonishing is that despite their signatures being visible in the Constitution, little is known about these women artists," Varade writes.

While the framers’ words created the basis of the democratic system, the Constitution is a significant social art object as well. This is the link that Nair was trying to bring out with her curation. People often feel disconnected from the various complex subjects in the Constitution and are not aware of the key role it plays in our daily lives, she explains. “We wanted to create avenues to help people connect with the document in a deeper way, and art seemed like the best medium for that. It allows for you to think about values enshrined within and have your own interpretation of them," says Nair.

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Among the artworks are two by Gautam Rahul, co-founder of Delhi’s Sancha Art Studio—Echoes of Liberty is inspired by the original illustrations, and creates a visual connection between art and law. Voices of Vision celebrates the 15 women members of the Constituent Assembly. Jaipur-based collective WOLF’s Freedom Gateway references the Preamble and the hand-drawn borders of the title page. “The contrasting sides of the gateway reflect the dual nature of the Constitution itself: one side, rich and ornate, embodies the aspirational ideals of the nation, while the other side’s modest presentation represents the foundational text—a reminder of the guiding principles that underpin Indian democracy," states the artistic note. A few works were acquired for the segment, while the majority of the art was commissioned and created especially for the museum.

In Ascending-Descending, one of the acquired works, artist Sudipta Das captures the harsh realities of displacement, struggle and unrest. The figures’ dynamic movement—some ascending toward brighter futures, others descending into new challenges—reflects the continuous uncertainty in the lives of displaced individuals. “This theme transcends boundaries of nationality, race, and religion, underscoring a universal plight shared across humanity," states the curatorial note.

For years, visual practitioners have been responding to the document in a myriad of ways ever since it was adopted. Art has reflected on the values enshrined, on the upholders of these principles, the struggles to defend it, as well as the very artwork within it. In recent years especially, the interpretations and responses—both direct and indirect—have increased manifold with artists mulling over ideas of equality, justice, fraternity and unity. In 2020, on Republic Day, the Kochi-Muziris Biennale started an online series encouraging young artists to explore the meaning and promise of the Constitution in light of current affairs. The works included Besant Nagar, a digital drawing by Hyderabad-based artist Faiza Hasan, from an online series documenting people’s participation in democracy. The image shows two women bending down to make a kolam, with the words “We The People" at the centre of the floral patterns. This is in sync with her practice of delving into the personal, the everyday and broader histories.

Another work, Harbinger, made with clay, hay and found objects by Sahej Rahal from Mumbai, references the artwork of the Constitution directly. “The manuscript of the Constitution contains exquisite illustrations of elements from India’s rich and diverse past. However, these elements are today being transfigured into armaments of a violent and divisive present," said the artist in a note. He took clay from the area near the dig sites “of what is possibly Muziris as well as film sets and industrial yards to create absurd fossils that assert the claims of the imagination against our instituted amnesia."

The Kochi-Muziris Biennale in its social media posts on the series also lists The Blue Fox, in which Anupama Alias relied on the Panchatantra story of a fox that fell into a vat of indigo, and deceived the village and the jungle into acquiring a position of power—until he heard other foxes howling and revealed his true colours. She uses this tale to create a multi-layered visual narrative about leadership and authenticity.

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That same year, Delhi-based GallerySKE curated a showcase at the India Art Fair to mark 70 years of the Constitution. Curated by Skye Arundhati Thomas, the showcase featured 15 artists such as Rupali Patil, Rajyashri Goody, Prarthna Singh, Aradhana Seth and Sodonechilling. Artist-filmmaker Aradhana Seth created a mirror, which reflected the Constitution and the people who looked into it. Prarthna Singh photographed the Constitution copy from the 1970s, which was gifted to her father the day he joined the Civil Services. It represented to her a certain nostalgia and value system. Rupali Patil looked at the Constitution as a giant wall with a wire fence, and Abir Karmakar, in his hyper realistic painterly style, presented it as an upturned document. Each of these interpretations is unique, stemming from the artist’s response to the sociopolitical environment and what the Constitution means to them.

At Gallery Threshold, in Delhi, an ongoing exhibition, Lost in Translation—about the inherent complexities of language—also has a work inspired by Constitutional values. Echoes of a Lingering Loss by Anindita Bhattacharya is a 16x6ft work in gouache and natural pigments on hand-cut paper and spans an entire wall of the gallery. It is a visual depiction in jaali of the Preamble of the Constitution rendered in Urdu. “Urdu, so deeply rooted in India’s syncretic traditions, becomes a contested site—a language politicized and alienated from its shared heritage," states the curatorial note. Bhattacharya has been working on translations of texts in Urdu for over a decade.

At the time that the show was conceived, she had been working on a translation of the national anthem. While that work was in progress, she realised that the Preamble already had a translation in Urdu. “I have been engaging with the idea of Urdu as a marginalised language, and how post Partition, it came to be synonymous with a certain nation state. We distanced ourselves from it even though in northern India, my grandfather and his contemporaries wrote and read in the language. It was never confined by religion. With this work, I want to look at transcending divisions and refer back to the pluralistic fabric envisioned by the Constitution," she explains.

Any interpretation of the Constitution is not a one-time affair, nor is it a direct response each time. With civil liberties and voices of dissent being curbed across the world and polarising views dividing people, a growing number of artists are responding to these infringements and divisions. As the critique of sociopolitics grows, the relevance of the Constitution as a uniting force and the upholder of equality and liberty also becomes significant. So, while artists respond to caste, gender and communal violence, excesses of capitalism, widening inequality and more, they also hold the hope that the ideals of the Constitution will be upheld.

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For artists whose practices are rooted in Dalit his tory, the figure of B.R. Ambedkar—the chairperson of the committee that drafted the Constitution— itself becomes a source of inspiration as in the case of artist Vikrant Bhise who responds to the Ambedkar statue in his work to highlight the disparities of caste.

The phrase, “We the People", has served as a powerful prompt for artists time and again. Hyderabadbased artist and historian Varunika Saraf interprets the idea in her series of 76 hand-embroidered works featuring figures from all walks of life within tie-anddye maps of India on Khadi cloth. Vanessa Chishti, professor of political science and modern history at O.P. Jindal Global University, writes in her catalogue essay that each moment depicted in the series is one of significance in the post-independence history of the country—of protest, of resilience, of efforts by citizens to uphold Constitutional values, and small acts of kindness that go a long way. One map is left blank, with the artist inviting others to inscribe their own stories. “Varunika’s choice of embroidery as the technique for this collection signals her desire to slow down, to look carefully at photographs of suffering and to contemplate the responsibilities she bears to the people in them," writes Chishti. “... She also parses the many meanings of the term “the people", itself subject to dangerous reductions… . Instead we see “the people" depicted, rightfully, as multitudes in revolt, throbbing with vitality, acting in defense of life and taking their rightful place at the center of the national imagination."

Artists have always been witness to the times that we live in—serving as critics, archivists and historians in their own right. As India enters its 76th year as a republic, these visual responses offer a nuanced and varied interpretation of the ideas of justice and equality, and what the promise of the Constitution continues to mean to people from different walks of life.