Original artwork description:

The idea of this serie of portraits was developped during my artist residency at Chander Haat in Kolkata, India, in January 2019.
The "Kalighat project" deals with the topic of human trafficking and to the traditional Arts & Crafts as a means of reintegrating sex workers into society.

Of these 6 portraits, one is not a sex worker. But it's not given to know who.
I want to stress the dignity of a woman regarding her profession or social status.

Kolkata is the biggest hub for human trafficking in Asia.
Block printing is the earliest method of printing patterns on textile, usually linen, silk or cotton.
Many victims of human trafficking are reintroduced to society through learning new work skills. One of them is Block printing.
I wanted to put these two opposite aspects of indian society together, adapting the method of printing to the canvas which portray the sex workers.
Thanks to the support of the association @newlightkolkata I was able to get in touch with some sex workers of the red light district of Kalighat, as well as spend time with the girls of the shelter Soma Home, while the association #Sanlaap, provided me with the wooden blocks used by the girls of the Sneha Shelter Home, to create Sari and other textile products. The girls also showed me the procedure of block printing.

Materials used:

oil colours, and block printing

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