Brushstrokes
Brushstrokes: Inside Singapore’s Only Shelter For Homeless Transgender Women
June and her late sister Irene (who was also transgender) took it upon themselves to “to give and do more for others”, and together they began the first shelter for homeless transwomen in Singapore.
By Curated Content
Brushstrokes: Birth Control Tales
Framed as fun conversations between friends, a series of comic strips on different birth control methods –implants, intrauterine devices, injectable, and pill,…
By Curated Content
February 1, 2018
BRUSHSTROKES: ILLUSTRATIONS THAT SUM UP BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP WHEN YOU HAVE ADHD
What happens to love, romance and sex when you have a disorder like ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)? Are they…
By Curated Content
This Pinup Series Portrays Indian Women (Accurately) As Sexually Liberated Badasses
“Badass Indian Pinups” – a series of paintings by Indo-Canadian artist Nimisha Bhanot shows Indian women breaking traditional stereotypes. Women…
By Curated Content
Brushstrokes: Portraits of South Africa’s Lesbian Community
In the portrait series ‘Faces and Phases’, South African photographer Zanele Muholi has created a visual record of black lesbian history that spans more than a decade. In the striking photos set against different textures and backgrounds, Muholi showcases the diversity and fluidity of black lesbian identity in South Africa.
By Curated Content
November 1, 2017
Brushstrokes: When Ganja fell in love with Mahua
The Ganja-Mahua Chronicles is an art project that draws attention to the role that marriage plays in upholding India’s caste…
By Curated Content
October 3, 2017
Brushstrokes: Indian Teen Artist Reimagines Goddesses As Modern-Day Feminists
Bringing to life five goddesses from across the world, 17-year-old Priyanka Paul from India has used illustration to reimagine these…
By Curated Content
Brushtrokes: Queering Bombay’s Public Spaces
This article/photo essay was originally published in Gaysi Family. In a society that heavily restricts expressions of sexuality, openly asserting…
By Curated Content
August 16, 2017
Brushstrokes: Illustrations That Sum Up Being in a Relationship When You Have ADHD
In this set of illustrations, Caroline Kee of BuzzFeed shows what it’s like to be in a relationship as someone with ADHD. The illustrations cover everything from dates, sex, and stigma, while also acknowledging the nuances of being in a relationship with someone who does not have ADHD.
By Curated Content
Brushstrokes: 9 Simple Ways to Become the Perfect Sanskari Woman
In many societies, women are assigned the role of ‘protecting’ or upholding tradition and culture. Their movements, behaviour and conversations…
By Curated Content
Mumbai Artist Draws Dating Life in the Digital Age
All this online dating activity must surely produce amusing stories. It was with this thought that Mumbai-based writer and illustrator Indu Kumar set about her art project #100IndianTinderTales.
By Curated Content
June 1, 2017
Brushstrokes: Growing Up Matrilineally in Meghalaya
When patriarchy, patrilineality and patrilocality are the norm in most societies, those communities that do things differently tend to stand out, and the liberties afforded by this difference shape its people, as the photographers of these two series of portraits capture.
By Curated Content
May 15, 2017
Brushstrokes: An Artist Captures Patriarchal Nosiness in its Most Everyday Avataar
The potential for art to connect people and to challenge thinking is continuously widening. Aarushi Jain, a 21-year-old artist from India, perfectly captures the societal expectations placed on women in her representation of the English alphabet.
By Curated Content
Brushstrokes: The Story of Amanirenas, the Fierce Kandake
This month, we’re excited about featuring the story of Amanirenas, one of the most famous Kushite Kandakes, queens of the ancient African kingdom of Kush (what is today the country of Sudan) and her valiant fight against the armies of Rome to defend the boundaries of her people’s land.
By Curated Content
These Pictures Give Voice to a Transwoman’s Assertion of Her Right to Equality
In the middle of such tightness around who can marry whom, where and how one can marry, and what kind of marriages are given social and legal sanction, we came across the story of Madhuri Sarode, a transwoman, transgender rights activist and classical dancer, and Jay Sharma, a machine operator in a steel goods manufacturing unit, who married each other in December last year.
By Curated Content