Aravani Art Project is a collective composed of cis and transgender women with the aim of spreading positivity and hope to their communities through their commissioned mural paintings. Their commissioned mural for the Venice Biennale relates representations of trans bodies and nature, with a nod to the processes of transition, dysphoria, and acceptance that trans people experience when acknowledging their identities. While denaturalising gender constructions, their work queries the dominant norms and how gender dysphoria is a feeling of being a foreigner in one’s own body, along with how they overcome this obstacle. Using bright colours and multifaceted images, the narrative shows the different possibilities trans people should have, beyond the narrow stereotypes perpetrated by society. In this sense, colour is a crucial element of their work, both echoing their Indian background – where bright colour appears in clothing, spices, and architecture – as well as an amplification of the colours of the LGBTQI+ and trans flags that frequently appear in their work and resonate diversity among people.
This is the first time the work of Aravani Art Project is presented at Biennale Arte.
—Leandro Muniz
