Vaidehi Sita, the exhibition, curated for the Bihar Museum’s Foundation Day on August 7, 2024

Chinki Sinha, Editor of Outlook in conversation with Director of Bihar Museum Anjani Kumar Singh, as a part of Outlook Talks on the occasion of Vaidehi Sita, the exhibition, curated for the museum’s foundation day on August 7, 2024

From Outlook: In a world dominated by images of men and gods, Baua Devi of Jitwarpur village of Madhubani district in Bihar was trying to paint a scene from Sita’s childhood where a young Sita picks up a bow and her father looks at her with awe. It was too heavy for a young girl and yet, she picked it up. Thirty-five artists, mostly women who do traditional Madhubani and Manjusha paintings and Sujani art, had come to Bihar Museum to depict scenes from the life of Sita, who they consider Bihar’s daughter and an ecofeminist and a woman who personified dignity and empowerment.

Vaidehi Sita, the exhibition, curated for the museum’s foundation day on August 7, is a brave endeavour because of the politicisation of Lord Ram in recent times. Sita, who was married to him, was eventually abandoned and for artists like Shanti Devi and Dulari Devi, it was a betrayal.

For them, Sita’s story is what many women must see and hear and break free from everything that shackles them. Outlook speaks with Anjani Kumar Singh, the director of Bihar Museum, about the exhibition and the coming together of artists, many of whom belong to lower castes who weren’t allowed to paint the images of Ram and Sita up until the 1980s.