Heritage Lab comes to Mumbai to help create space on Wikipedia for female artists

Mrinalini Mukherjee at MS University Baroda1969 PIcsource Jyoti Bhatt Courtesy The Baroda Archives project Asia Art ArchiveThe late Mrinalini Mukherjee who fashioned the most sensuous sculptures out of hemp is a name that Indian art history cannot afford to miss out Mukherjee who passed away in 2015 was notable for her iconic figures mdash at once robust and curvaceous mdash inspired by goddesses vegetation and archetypal forms Her works are part of collections at Tate and New Delhis National Gallery of Modern Art It should come as a surprise then that Mukherjee got a Wikipedia page only about a fortnight agoA full list of her exhibitions and biographical details are just a click away now thanks to a daylong event in Chandigarh called the ArtFeminism Wikipedia EditaThon The event organised by a nonprofit called Heritage Lab hits Mumbai on April 29 at Lower Parels Piramal Museum of Art where artists like Damyanti Chowla Sunayni Devi Nilima Sheikh and Madhvi Parekh are set to get Wikipedia entries The EditaThon is an attempt to make the free online encyclopaedia a space where women artists from India can find equal representation as their male counterparts It is easy to find an artist like Amrita SherGil on Wikipedia She had an edge over others as she was declared a National Treasure artist But what about the remaining female artists says Medhavi Gandhi who founded Heritage Lab in 2015Medhavi Gandhi The feminine touch Gandhi an MBA graduate who has been working towards improving the visibility of the arts and museums has partnered with the ArtFeminism Movement artplusfeminismorg to bring this EditaThon to India The global movement which started in 2014 in the US as a conversation between four friends who wanted to create meaningful changes to the body of knowledge available about feminism and the arts on Wikipedia partners with interested individuals and establishments the worldoverCultural theorist and curator Nancy Adajania says The EuroAmerican art worlds have become more vocal in recent times about the underrepresentation of women artists in art history Museum exhibitions and publications on women artists are addressing this issue In India we have long had very prominent women artists whose work has been well acknowledged We need to ensure that global public platforms such as Wikipedia reflect thisAt a time when having a Wikipedia page seems to be the easiest and the most obvious Internet resource whats stopping our artists from getting one of their own Editing a Wikipedia page is a gendered activity with most of it being done by male users There is a misconception that using a Wikipedia dashboard requires a knowledge of coding but thats not the case at all It is important that diverse sets of people add their research to these pages says Gandhi who was introduced to editing the online portal through members at ArtFeminismAt the EditaThon in Chandigarhrsquos Government Museum and Art Gallery participants create a Wikipedia page for Sheela GowdaAdajania says that the last decade has seen major publications on women artists such as Nalini Malani Amrita SherGil Arpita Singh Nilima Sheikh Navjot Altaf and Sheba Chhachhi among others Our publishing scene is definitely improving However in some cases outsized and expensive publications can be a deterrent to those who are really interested in art she says Many of these publications however are housed at reputable museums across the country The last two EditaThons that Heritage Lab organised at the National Museum New Delhi and Chandigarhs Government Museum and Art Gallery saw students journalists and teachers use research material and publications housed in these museums libraries It is also as she puts it an important way for museums and their resources to connect with the virtual userSeveral people asked us if this was an event meant for women only It is for anyone who is interested Gandhi adds Did any art historian sign up Not yet says GandhiWhat does the underrepresentation of women artists on Wikipedia say about the art milieu in India Artist Sharmistha Ray who draws on queer politics in her works says If you look at the most significant pool of Indias 10 galleries of established and emerging artists the representation of women artists stands at about 36 If you look at the international percentages of the gender split at major galleries its far less positive So overall I would say India is in a better place Thats not to say its a perfect balance yetAs for Wikipedia she adds Its not the measure of an artist by any standard Its great if theres a bigger effort being made to represent women artists but I would like to think that a Wikipedia entry is not the ultimate validation of an artists legacy