Motherland - The Festive Tableau, from the Mother India project

2009 (print date 2012)

Indian, born 1956

In her Mother India series, Pushpamala playfully reconstructs the mass-produced image of Bharat Mata, a personification of India (Bharat) as a mother goddess. During India’s fight for independence from British imperialism, the Bharat Mata image gained new traction and was used as a galvanizing symbol of nationhood. In these two photographs, the artist impersonates and embodies Mother India. In one, she is peacefully enthroned on a lion, and in the other she benevolently accepts the sacrifice of Bhagat Singh, a socialist and revolutionary who fought against colonial oppression. These works are direct citations of well-known calendar images, which were vital for devotional and commercial practices.

From the curtain to the paper mâché lion, Pushpamala incorporates props that call attention to the artifice of the photograph. She strives not for complete mimicry. Instead, she points to the constructs that underlie the production of these market-driven images.

Archival Inkjet print

45 x 30 in. (114.3 x 76.2 cm)

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Art Acquisition Fund

2015.25.1

Provenance: The artist; [Zürcher Gallery, New York]

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Embodied Change: South Asian Art Across Time, Jan. 14 - July 10, 2022.

Published ReferencesSumathi Ramaswamy, The Goddess and the Nation: Mapping Mother India (Duke, 2010), pp. 50, 62, 64, 69, 225.

Chris Pinney, Photos of the Gods: The Printed Image and Political Struggle in India (Reaktion, 2004), p. 126.

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