Kirtika Kain’s work portrays the artist’s heritage, memories and identity as a Dalit woman. The title has mythological roots and the piece uses gold and second-hand silk screens—these had been scrapped and erased multiple times before reaching the hands of the artist. Kirtika tells the story of the Dalit people, highlighting notions of purity versus impurity. Under the caste system, many of the rich materials used ritually were forbidden to the Dalit community. Kirtika reclaims these materials, redefining the narrative of a Dalit artist, she celebrates her culture with passion—rather than focussing on victimhood. This is a work about freedom, joy and pride.

Her intuitive and powerful iconography highlights the experiences of the diaspora and female voices, in spaces that were considered elite and had marginalised the community, even within the fine arts. A key theme in this artwork is labour and the division of labour under the caste system, which explains the problematic ideas of purity and impurity. By mixing sacred elements like gold and ritual pigments with tar, she recalls the history of untouchability associated with Dalits. The more you look at the work, the more intricate, complicated yet sophisticated it looks with its contortions, layers and scrapes—symbolic of the desired caste consciousness Kirtika wants to evoke. The complex, tesseract structure of sub-caste groups in the Hindu system makes political consciousness difficult but, as the artist says, “Art is a container for the history we’ve inherited,  and gives us the freedom to redefine, to see and celebrate ourselves.”

Kirtika’s work was shown at Ahāra—a contemporary Indian restaurant in Singapore—serving as a continual reminder of the scarcity that is an overwhelming and significant part of the Dalit experience. The hope was to encourage diners to reflect on their privilege, consumption and the imbalance of the availability of resources. According to some, the word Dalit means “of the soil” or “of the Earth” and the painting embraces the idea of being mindful of a community through the art and food we enjoy, which comes from the earth.