Visitors at the exhibition in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 26: Ten artistes have come together to celebrate woman power at an exhibition at the regional centre of Lalit Kala Akademi. The four-day event called ‘Woman: The Boon on the Planet’ started on Monday.

Artist Smrutirekha Barik has hung up a blouse and a petticoat on the wall to represent the dutiful wife sitting on the bed waiting for her husband, who she has to please. In front of it is a brass plate with small containers filled with raw food and other items. Through these imageries, the artist wants to depict how the society keeps women in a leash.

Marat Kumar Rout from Balasore has put up five different items to describe the qualities of a woman. “I have kept paddy to show that the female body is a fertile land. There is also a pitcher that resembles the tummy where a child grows. I want viewers to interpret my work in their own way,” said the 40-year-old artist.

Kalyan Barik from Baripada in his artwork titled ‘The stains of shame’ has used layers of bandage cotton soaked in red colour to portray the Delhi gang-rape incident.

Pradipta Kumar Sahoo from Cuttack has lent a pre-historic look to the statue of a pregnant woman he has displayed at the exhibition.

In another creation, Smruti Sai Mishra has made ‘The Milk House’, a compartment with a mirror in it.

“The mother pours her blood drops in form of milk into the dry lips of an infant. The creator of a painting or a poem, too, is like a mother,” he explains. In an attempt to focus on a rise in crimes against women, Sudarshan Sahoo has kept a black globe in front of a mannequin covered with black cloth and has named it ‘shame’.

Smruti Kanta Rout has displayed two sections of photographs separated by model of teardrops made of fibre. All the snaps represent the atrocities against women.

Rajat Kumar Dhal’s creations depict the acid attack victims. Pratap Chandra Jena’ has made a replica of a screw and put hair brush stands to show copulation. Arya Kirone, a teenager and the youngest of all also focused on the women’s plight.

The exhibition is curated by art historian Soubhagya Pathy and inaugurated by littérateur Pratibha Ray.