Fearless Collective Takes to the Streets

‘In the last few months, the world itself contracted — our borders shut, we enclosed ourselves in our own homes, and stepped away from the streets. This has been a time of deep introspection, but also a time of unprecedented Fear. As the world begins to expand again, Fearless asks if the world we re-emerge into can be more inclusive for women, to those at the margins? More empathetic? Can we define the ‘new normal’ as being a softer, kinder and more loving world?’ says founder of Fearless Collective and Bangalore-based artist, Shilo Shiv Suleman. 

Starting in Lucknow and then in Jaipur, Fearless will be working with queer and LGBTQ communities to understand colloquial and non-binary ways of loving. What will they be creating? In each city they will create public art in the form of murals, public poetry, and photography exhibitions. Their murals will be public monuments to essential workers from the waste-picker community and queer love. ‘We believe that Art, Beauty, Poetry and the ability to dream and expand is crucial and absolutely essential. Art has the capacity to heal, and in times of isolation bring us closer together,’ affirms Suleman. In Delhi and then ending back in their home city Bangalore, Fearless will be working with waste segregation workers who were classified as ‘non-essential’ during the lockdown, to bring visibility to their stories. They will be joined by Urdu Poet Sabika Abbas Naqvi and photographer Gayatri Ganju on this journey. Suleman explains, ‘as we began to chart our journey, we recognised that we wanted to dig deeper into our context, work with those communities which hold our cities together, and understand the intersection of environment, gender, class and caste more deeply.’ 

Their practice relies more than anything on community engagement. Their workshops are crafted to take the communities through an intimate process of shared storytelling, via which they can choose how they are represented in public spaces, reclaiming narratives in which they have been invisibilised. This is the first time Fearless will be heading back to the streets to paint since the lockdown, and are doing this with the greatest care and consideration given the unprecedented circumstances. They will be practicing all the safety measures stipulated by the WHO and local health care workers. The number of participants in each workshop will remain very limited and all activities will be conducted in large open spaces, maintaining social distancing guidelines. Their own team will stay constant (2-3 people), travelling by road to reduce the risks of shared transport, and they will be getting tested every time they move to a new city.