Birender Kumar Yadav

This Foundation Project implemented by IFA under Explorations will examine the lives and conditions of work of migrant labourers of the brick kilns of Mirzapur through artistic collaboration with them. Birender Kumar Yadav is the Coordinator for this project.

Birender is a Delhi based visual artist who did his BFA from BHU and MFA from Delhi College of Art. He had a solo show at 1Shanthiroad Studio/Gallery in 2017; and was awarded the Pro-Helvetia Studio Residency at Zurich in 2018, and India Residency at Darling Foundry, Montreal. Birender was brought up in Dhanbad, where his father worked in the coalmines. The migrant labourers from Dhanbad that he encountered in different parts of India during his travels as an art student has informed his art practice. Given his experience he is best placed to be the Coordinator of this Foundation Project of IFA.

Birender was sent to Banaras to study fine arts so that he could easily design equipment his father cast at the foundry in the coal mine. Brought up in Dhanbad Birender was familiar with Khortha, a dialect of Magahi language which is spoken by the tribals of Dhanbad. At Banaras, 40 kilometers away from Mirzapur, Birender came across people speaking Khortha. After realising that they are migrant labourers working in the brick kilns of Mirzapur, he started frequenting these kilns since 2014. There he began to collect finger prints of these labourers on their photographs. These frequent visits had a considerable impact on his artistic practice.

This project titled Unjustified is premised on the irony of the working conditions of women labourers in the brick kilns which produce a brand of bricks called Durga, the Goddess who is often invoked as an image of women’s empowerment. It will also examine promised policies such as ‘housing for all’ which never see the light of day, and for which bricks essential. About the socio-economic relevance of the project, Birender says, “The brick industry is growing as the demand for bricks is increasing in the towns and villages due to fast economic growth, urbanisation and property. But the shortage of workers is a great challenge for these fast-growing industries. 100% of the workers are from the traditionally marginalised and excluded caste and classes and 60% are inter-state migrant workers. The factors have resulted in a highly vulnerable workforce that can be controlled and exploited easily by the management. And due to discrimination historically like caste, it gives them easy leverage to exploit the workers, by the illegal and inhuman practices like untouchability etc. which continues.”

As part of the project, Birender will travel to Mirzapur and live there. He will photo document the working conditions in the brick kilns, exploring the irony of how the bricks named after the Goddess Durga weighs down on the women who carry them. Based on still and video documentation Birender will make a series of drawings and terracotta sculptures while exploring creative collaborations with the workers.

The outcomes of the project will be this series of drawings, terracotta sculptures, photographs and a video documentary. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be a documentation of the drawings, terracotta sculptures, and copies of the photographs and the documentary.

This project suitably addresses the framework of IFA’s Arts Practice programme in the manner in which it attempts to explore the ironies in the relationships of labour and development; possibilities of collaboration between an artist and migrant workers of brick kilns; and the role that the arts can play in our understanding of neo-liberal capitalism and its consequences. 

IFA will ensure that the implementation of this project happens in a timely manner and funds expended are accounted for. IFA will also review the progress of the project at midterm and document it through an Implementation Memorandum. After the project is finished and all deliverables are submitted, IFA will put together a Final Evaluation to share with Trustees.

This project is made possible with support from Sony Pictures Entertainment Fund.