Political artist

Very few things tell the story of what the students of an institution stand for in letter and spirit the way the graffiti, murals and banners on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus tell us about the university.

Politics has been as integral a part of JNU as academics in its 40 years of existence. This is apparent from the life-size posters and banners proclaiming mainly left ideologies.

Anagha Ingole (24), an M.Phil student at the School of International Studies, paints some of these banners and posters for the Students' Federation of India (SFI). She says she never studied art beyond the single arts class at school, and it was mostly about nature and portraits. "My first brush with painting for politics was at JNU which was an untouched dimension for me," Ingole says.

One of her first political paintings was a Che Guevara, whose stylised visage has become a counter-cultural symbol of rebellion.

In an interesting word play, the poster says "Chenge the World". She says art is a way to further politics by propagating a message. "Marxism does not support 'art for art's sake', and when you paint with that thought, you stop being an artist and become an activist with pictures."

Ingole was fielded as the SFI candidate for the office of the vicepresident in the recently restored students' union elections on the campus. The party's national leadership recently dissolved the JNU unit but the unit has decided to continue with the name and the official positions.

"I don't see myself as an artist," Ingole says. "I always wanted to take up art more seriously but my research never allowed me the time to pursue it."

Her personal favourite from all her art is a painting of a girl student holding the SFI flag with the organisation's motto "Independence, Democracy, Socialism" written across it and all 154 "student martyrs" of the SFI in the background.

ALSO READ

Ghalib returns home, his haveli opens today as public memorial

Cross at your own risk

Verdict in Dec 16 rape case expected by month-end: Neeraj Kumar

Read and Digest