Partition Trauma: A Depiction through Visual Art

Abstract

The partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 remains a pivotal event in the history which has affected the lives of many and it still is. It resulted in mass migration, violence, deaths, murders, rapes and trauma that continue to haunt people and communities even today. The research explores how this trauma is represented in visual arts, particularly paintings focusing on the cultural and psychological effects of a historical incident of partition as a disaster rather than a mere relocation that is based on religion. The research studies the traumatic scars of partition through paintings by artists like Pran Nath Mago, Jimmy Engineer and Satish Gujral.

The paintings explore the themes of loss, identity, trauma, separation and grief. These paintings reflect the agony, pain, mourning of the refugees and mass migration with a feeling of dislocation and fears of death and offers emotional turmoil of the mass migration. The paintings not only serve as a reflection of personal grief but are powerful social commentaries on lasting impacts of partition.

The research analyzes the paintings to understand the role of art in depicting traumatic histories. Painters translate the emotions into visual form to understand the impact of partition in contemporary society. The research explores the trauma that revolves around partition and how the trauma is depicted through the medium of visual art.