The Ethnographic Series; from the project 'Native Women of South India: Manners & Customs'

Comprising 45 images, this photo-performance by Pushpamala N. acts out a multitude of fictional stereotypes expected to be found in South India. Satirising the colonial practice of scientifically documenting the 'natives' through photography, these images present women in a range of tropes including a Toda tribal, a nun and a sorceress. Each avatar was documented bin collaboration with the British photographer Clare Arni over a period of four years. Pushpamala's performed series follow in the tradition of artists, Eleanor Antin and Cindy Sherman in their use of self-portraiture as a mechanism for unearthing latent stereotypes and implied typecasting of women. While Pushpamala employs humour and wit in her works, there is also a distinct feeling of cynicism where the artist questions not only the former colonial stereotypes but a male dominated society and the roles that women play within it.