Artworks in Of Land, River, and Body go beyond archiving injustices and resisting their subjects’ erasure; they celebrate gods and make heroes relevant in troubled times in local languages and aim to heal and uplift. The government and most of its citizens ignore, deny, are unaware, or unconcerned about the ongoing state-perpetrated abuses Rahman explores. Her media is apt for her witness-bearing art and recalls Roland Barthes’ assertion that ‘every photograph is a certificate of presence’.According to Barthes, a photograph’s unique power lies in its ability to prove that someone existed, or something happened. A photograph not only represents a past reality, it compels the viewer to acknowledge that reality’s existence. This is exactly what Rahman asks us to do.
Dr Melia Belli Bose
Associate Professor of South Asian Art History,
University of Victoria, Canada
