This talk will explore the ways in which art may be used to integrate issues of social justice with Buddhist practice. Commitment to Buddhist principles entails the active and earnest engagement in contemporary issues of equity and justice. Creativity in the arts is a profound way for the artist to give expression to that commitment while at the same time encouraging others to reflect on what is just and right in a given context, and on the precious opportunity to truly cherish others.
ABOUT PIYALI BANERJIE
Piyali is a Bay Area based South-Asian artist, activist, advocate, survivor, and mother. She uses art as a means to bring awareness to social justice issues speaking to the experience of individuals in terms of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, geographic location, socioeconomic status, age, and religion. Her mediums include large murals, body painting and drawing portraits.
In her art series, The Sacred Labyrinth, Piyali explores gender identity by using the adorned body as a point of reference for the lived experience of her participants. Through her conversations with participants of this project, she discovered that there are many causes for the shame women feel around their bodies. More recently, Piyali created a portrait series called “When the Revolution Came”, where she draws the portrait of African American or Black revolutionaries and shares their story, as a way of educating herself, her family, and extending it out to others. Piyali is also working with the monks at Gyuto Monastery (California) to create children’s books about dharma.
EVENT RECORDING
CONNECT WITH PIYALI
INSTAGRAM: @piyaliart @powertothevulva
WEBSITE: https://www.thesacredlabyrinth.org/
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