As a 17 year old girl, growing up in Belgium, sister Francoise Bosteels started to make dolls in a period of illness that confined her to bed for months. Later when she came to India, more than 30 years ago, she added another meaning to this artwork… The dolls now show human conditions, facets of domestic, social, religious and aesthetic life. They show us around and guide us towards a deeper awareness of “the other India”, the India of the excluded, the oppressed and the despised. They present problems and challenge us to responsible intervention.
The dolls themselves are not children of the doll maker’s fantasy. They are born of their maker’s real experience. They embody and express the impact the life of the people, of the poor in particular, has had on Francoise. “The dolls were born out of compassion and love, they are part of me, and I am part of them” their maker tells touchingly. Francoise Bosteels has published now 2 books on these dolls “the Dolls Speak” and the newest one “Through the Needle’s Eye, Everyday Life of Everyday People”. She also exhibit these dolls at different places in the world.
Then sister Francoise took this all a level further and started to conduct workshops so the women she presented in her dolls now started to make their own dolls, to visualize their life and their problems themselves. At the Indian Women’s Court she organized an exhibition of the dolls made by:
MEMBERS OF SADHANA MAHILA GUMPU, BANGALORE
THE COMMUNITY WOMEN OF J.J.NAGAR
THE HAKKI PIKKI AND IRULIGA TRIBAL WOMEN
Together with their dolls they showed a text to tell their story. These women were so proud to show the work they made, to explain how you get into prostitution, what is the effect of child marriage etc. The wanted to have photos of them with their artwork, they looked so proud to have overcome these horrific experiences they show in and with their dolls. For me it looked clear that among other things, this making of dolls workshops could transform pain into strength, they have a new communication medium to tell the world, to try to make changes so other girls maybe don’t have to go through the same shit and can be saved of this violence…
In this gallery I show you some photos of the makers with their dolls. At the separate doll photos I also will add the story that went together with this specific set of dolls.