Unsung heroes: Meet the duo tackling social injustice, oppression with different forms of artistic expression

Deeply rooted in the ideology that creative expression can be an impactful and liberating medium, the team aims to tell the stories of social injustice and oppression through different art forms like theatre, music, photos, paintings, stand-ups, and more.

“Maraa Collective challenges the idea of freedom of speech and expression that’s often reserved for a certain group of people. Here, we focus on the voices that are systematically suppressed by the state and the society,” said Ekta.

After the organization was founded in 2008, they started off by setting up community radio stations in different areas so that the members of the suppressed communities could participate directly. This allowed them to speak for themselves and conduct programs that acknowledge the issues vital to them.

Over the years, the team has come up with different projects and has touched upon various social issues. They collaborated with Freeda theatre and visited the rural areas of Madhya Pradesh to meet the survivors of sexual violence. With few of them showing interest in theatre, a show was prepared that graced the stage more than 40 times and across five different states in the country.

“Most of these women come from backward classes and have suffered a lot. But, now they finally had a way to express their pain and struggles. The oppression faced by the victims more often than not overwhelms their identity, but things become better when they get to talk about it in a public sphere,” said the co-founders.

Another prominent project by the collective was a photo exhibition by transgender men where they portrayed their fantasies of how they wish to be and how they want people to look at them. As described by Bhat, it was an opportunity for them to re-imagine their lives, see themselves with dignity and get a space where they have representation.

The photo exhibition can still be accessed by the general public as it now has a space reserved at the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) in Bengaluru.

Maraa Collective is also working on a musical project named ‘Adventures of Noori’ where they utilize a blend of beats, rhythms and lyrics to promote cultural justice through the stories narrated by their fictional character Noori. They further have a newspaper called ‘Bevaru’ which documents similar stories.

One thing that makes the community truly unique is that they know no limitations. They do not force themselves to stick to one topic or art form and keep experimenting and learning on the go.

Maraa Collective is also working on a musical project named ‘Adventures of Noori’. (Express Photo)

An example of their experimental ways lies in the stand-up comedy shows hosted by them. People from rural areas and oppressed backgrounds take the dais to share their plight using humor, which might seem worth criticizing to some but apparently help the participants to come out of their sufferings in their own ways.

“People can either be victims of oppression or become heroes fighting against it. But, we want them to establish their identity beyond that and realize that they are much more,” said Bhat.

While the initiative and concept look impressive, sustaining a community like this comes with its own set of challenges. Talking of which, the co-founders explained that fundings have always been a major issue to them as they have to depend on the donors or the crowdfunding to go on with the expenses.

While Bengaluru is a home to Maraa Collective, the team wishes to reach an audience across India .(Express Photo)

“Renting the space, arranging the props, training people and everything requires money. We even try to take up side hassles so that we have a passive source of income for us and there’s not too much burden on the collective to pay the members. But, we still need more funds and we have been looking into different funding models,” said Ekta.

While Bengaluru is a home to Maraa Collective, the team wishes to reach an audience across India. But, to form a community that big is not an easy feat. The lack of people coupled with lack of resources acts like another speed breaker in their journey.

In addition to these, the dynamic state regulations and political environment also press its own set of issues. The events and programs have to be prepared with careful consideration about what can and cannot be spoken in a public domain.

Bhat explained, “It’s not like we never get discouraged or lose our morale, but when we notice personal transformation of the people we have worked with, all the effort seems worth it. The impact we create is difficult to map into a quantifiable way but we witness the changes on individual levels and that keeps us going.”