Preema's journey deep within

Anyone familiar with the work of artist Preema Andaleeb, will recognise her presence in the paintings and installations in the room. The faces of women, the red embryonic child curled on the floor, the nude splashed in blood red streaks, the visuals on display all speak of her determination to get her message across. What is this message?

Preema Andaleeb is ready to open up and talk about her art. Her exhibition Preema Donna was held at the Nalini Kanta Bhattasali Gallery of the National Museum in Shahbagh of the capital city from 3 to 15 February.

“Many people see my exhibition as feminist, but they find it difficult to understand that feminism is actually for humanism. That is how I see it,” she explains. “A woman contains the whole world. A boy emerges from a woman. A man can’t come into the world without a woman, so what sort of taboo is this that sets us apart? That is why I have posed this question to the visitors by exhibiting every detail of a female, from the child to her inner wear, so they can feel the girl, understand what she is actually. A woman has such a powerful body.

“There is a suitcase here and people ask, why is this suitcase here? It is the insides of a woman. It’s how anyone wants to interpret it. They ask, are there clothes in it? I respond, ‘If all these things are evoking so many questions within you, why don’t gender issues, which are so visible, bring any questions to you mind? You don’t need goals like SDG to bring up these issues. Think normally and you will get it. It’s a political discourse.

“I wonder how do men think the way that they do? If they thought differently, women could have come a long way. But why blame men? Women themselves don’t do anything for themselves or for other women. Why not? That is what must be studied.

“Women don’t realise their own power. It’s all about dressing up, looking pretty. They are in a constant competition. But girls should move their focus away from that towards knowledge, to enlightenment. This goes down very deep.

“Both men and women are drawn to this exhibition. They want to understand. The fact that they want to understand is the biggest bar test of an exhibition. It is a suggestion to the society, to understand what is being said. This is not a space for gender, it is a very fluid space.

“We have to question life. It is as if we know all the answers. If we did, then we wouldn’t bother to think any anything at all. My work here is to make people think and to dig deep into themselves. People often tell me my work is very deep. I say that each and every one of us is tremendously deep. Some operate on the surface, some go deeper. That’s the difference.“

Think of childbirth. That is self comes from so deep, but we don’t think of it that way. Why don’t I give birth to a child? It is so deep, I just can’t do it. I can create 10 paintings, but will have to think deeply before giving birth to a child. You will see in society, the deeper than a person is, the more difficult it is for her to have a child. More enlightened people tend to have fewer children because they are conscious of what a deep process is involved. In the villages, they have so many children. This is a different philosophical angle. They don’t think. It may seem a shallow observation, but it is an important one.

“We have to go very deep. We take up protests so easily. But there is no need to protest. Many people see me as a protestor. But in this exhibition here, I have not put up a single expression of protest. It is just truth. These are facts presented for whoever wants to dissect them as they want. And this has really made people think.”

Her book, ‘Preema Donna – An Infinite Journey’ was also released at the same time as the exhibition.