A Reading Path Down a Rabbit Hole: Shakuntala Kulkarni
Selected conversations, interviews and profiles with Karnataka-born multidisciplinary artist Shakuntala Kulkarni.
Profiles and interviews
- Using art as a voice against violence | Shakuntala Kulkarni | TEDxEMWS (TEDx Talks, August 21, 2024)
- Shalini Passi in conversation with Shakuntala Kulkarni (MASH India)
- Shakuntala Kulkarni Fights Battles Through Art (Jayeeta Mazumdar, Sarmaya, July 16, 2019)
- The Extreme Occasions Of the Prosthetic Self (Ranjit Hoskote, Usawa Literary Review, May 13, 2026)
- Emami Art Talks 2.0 with Shakuntala Kulkarni (Emami Art, June 10, 2020)
- Shakuntala Kulkarni’s Work Pays Attention To Women’s Experiences And Spaces (Shirin Mehta, Verve Magazine, May 7, 2024)
Quotes & images
“Whenever someone walks in these structures, you cannot walk freely. There is a lot of discomfort. Your legs get caught or your hands get caught or you have to walk sideways… at the same time it is very dignified and beautiful. You can see the rhythm of the body.”
“Next to the accessories were the performance photographs where I was photographed standing, wearing the cane armour, guarding threatened spaces in Mumbai city that I have been associated with. I stand in the precarious spaces, like the traffic lights, middle of the road, on top of a building, with confidence and courage.”
“Clothing can speak about power, freedom, dignity, and respect. Apart from that it can create a powerful female gaze. It can also be a metaphor for protecting the female body while at the same time trapping it, creating restrictions on free movement.”
“I never show women as victims,” she says emphatically. “They are victimised. They are not completely weak. I show how they fight it out, how they deal with it.”