Debt Tales

Debt tales was a two day workshop and exhibition that brought together visual artists from marginalised groups to challenge the hegemonic financial system through their art work.

Debt has taken different shapes, forms and meaning over centuries. Historically, large protests and struggles across working classes germinated from immense indebtedness. But the way debt has been structured and organized today is symbolic of the oppression and injustices across the world. The debt language is an alienating tongue coated by the fallacy of objectivity and metrics, and lessons on morality – “you borrowed, of course you must pay back” or “why do you borrow in the first place”, wielded by the powerful, who selectively choose who gets punished and who gets to walk freely. It has become a convenient tool to dominate, oppress and violently attack the powerless.

This exhibition was aimed at creating a new vocabulary that rejects and refuses the shame and alienation imposed by this debt system. It reflected on the alienation and injustice, discussed tactics of subversion the everyday struggle and celebrated all acts of collective solidarity.