“Adavi Myah is an art collective led by caste oppressed (Bahujan) and Dalit (pejoratively known as Untouchables) cis-women. Our art is inspired by our beliefs, histories, and experiences and influenced by Ambedkar, Periyar, and our Dravidian ancestors.
The caste system is based in Hindu scriptures and thus rooted in spirituality and is a system of graded inequality in which some people are considered superior to others based on birth. Caste based discrimination is one of oldest and most brutal forms of hierarchical social organization impacting over 250 million people across the world. Dalits are considered among the lowest on this social structure.
Despite the severity and numbers of people caste-based oppression affects, many in the U.S. are unfamiliar with this. This is due to the South-Asian/Indian Subcontinent narrative that is informed by caste privileged immigrant majority that excludes the indigenous perspective.
Our art collective aims to bring our existence, community struggles and stories of resilience into this narrative. We do this through visual art including paintings but also through mixed media and written narrative. A large part of our art work is honoring our revolutionary ancestors including Ambedkar, Periyar, Savitribai, and Birsa Munda among others.
Our artwork is arts activism related to topics such as indigenous people’s survival, environmentalism, human rights, children’s rights, women’s rights, while focusing on caste and gender based oppression among South Asians.
You can find us on Facebook.