Some castes and ethnicities have been and continue to be marginalized in Nepal, and the Tharus, the fourth largest ethnic group in the country, are one of them. Through his art series ‘Masinya Dastoor’, Tharu artist Lavkant Chaudhary strives to tell their silenced stories by delving into the history of Tharu marginalization. Chaudhary cites a six-month art research project looking into the history of the Tharu people as an eye-opening experience into the one-dimensional stereotypes about his own community : All I came across were recurring stereotypical ideas about the Tharu. We were just water snail eaters, jungle dwellers, alcohol drinkers, and an honest tribe. That was our identity. Global Voices author Sanjib Chaudhary caught up with Lavkant to talk about the history of the Tharus and how it has influenced his work. Sanjib Chaudhary (SC): What inspired you to create artwork around social issues? Lavkant Chaudhary (LC): I came to know about the marginalization of Tharus and other indigenous peoples only after completing my Bachelors of Fine Arts. Searching the history of Tharus, I came across the preconceived notions about the Tharus — like people living in the jungle and eating water snails, alcohol drinkers and honest tribe among others. However, the question kept hovering in my mind: Why was the history of Tharus always kept in dark in Nepal? So, I thought of asking this through my artworks. Masinya. Artwork by Lavkant Chaudhary. Photo by Sanjib Chaudhary. Used with permission. SC: What does ‘Masinya Dastoor’ mean? What are the artworks all about? LC: My artwork revolve around displacement and resistance of Tharus, and the discrimination the community has faced at the hands of the state. Various ethnic groups including the Tharus were categorized as masinya matwali, which literally means enslavable alcohol drinkers, by the state through the Muluki Ain (National Code of 1854). The installation ‘Masinya’ comprises 13 ghaila (clay pots) with texts from different periods carved on their surfaces. The text ranges from statements from King Prithvi Narayan Shah who is credited for unifying Nepal to the Constitution of Nepal, 2015 – all of them have helped marginalize the indigenous peoples. Dastoor. Artwork by Lavkant Chaudhary. Photo by Sanjib Chaudhary. Used with permission. The ‘Tamasuk’ series tells the stories of systematic marginalization of Tharus. During the regime of autocratic rulers, the land belonging to Tharus were distributed and rewarded to different royal administrators and bureaucrats, leaving the Tharus landless in their own place. The kamaiya and kamalari system were introduced by which Tharu men, women, and their children could be traded as commodities. In the ‘Dastoor’ series I have used official documents from different time periods in Nepali history as a backdrop for portraits of day-to-day Tharu activities. The documents, issued by the Sen, Shah and Rana rulers of Nepal, record the way different rulers issued dastoor (legal orders) to control native people in their own land by enforcing taxes. Heavy taxes, imposed on nearly everything, from land to water, forest to agriculture, and crops to animals, impoverished the Tharus and others. Also read: ‘Opposite Dreams: The Politics of Local’: Art raises awareness around social issues in Nepal SC: Your artwork ‘Ostracism’ contains grains and bullets. What does this mean? LC: The cereals and grains symbolize the traditional land of the Tharus. The bullets then are placed on top of the grains to connote the systematic violence through which these lands were taken away. Although the grains get older and decompose, they still have the power to procreate. Perhaps resistance functions in a similar manner, growing out of centuries of violence. SC: You’ve chosen an unusual and less attractive theme, a pesticide, as the inspiration for your artwork titled, ‘DDT’. Why did you choose it? LC: DDT, also popularly known as ‘Dangerous Dose to Tharus’, is based on one of the silenced histories of the Tharu community. DDT. Artwork and photo by Lavkant Chaudhary. Used with permission. During the 50s and 60s, with support from the United States of America and the World Health Organization (WHO), the Nepali Government led a campaign to eradicate malaria in the Terai region. This led to a mass migration of hill people to Terai and large scale of deforestation in the region. The spraying of DDT not only eradicated malaria and the Anopheles mosquitoes but also reduced the Tharus to a minority in their own land. In this painting, I have used a Tharu wall relief technique to paint various objects including images of humans. Each image is approximately the same size as a mosquito.