Aequo is thrilled to unveil «RUB IN» featuring Sudheer Rajbhar’s collection for the gallery created with his creative associate, Camille Bastien. As the founder of the defiant brand - CHAMAR - in India, Sudheer is recontextualizing a term traditionally used as a derogatory slang for the Dalit community. <Chamar> actually refers to a caste historically associated with leather-working, a skilled craft that Sudheer is dedicated to preserving. The brand stands as an act of defiance, conserving the craft of a marginalized community and using its creations as activism to highlight social injustices in India. Through Chamar, Sudheer aims to elevate the Dalit community by lending prestige to their artistry and craftsmanship.

Sudheer Rajbhar has harnessed his creative and collaborative skills to unite leather artisans in Bombay around a material that he has masterfully transformed: rubber, a durable and fibrous alternative to leather. The brand emerged from his close work with the Dalit community, especially in Dharavi, India’s largest slum in the heart of Mumbai. Initially, these artisans worked with leather, but when beef was briefly banned in 2015, Sudheer introduced rubber as a new medium, ensuring that the Dalit communities, who had lost their livelihoods, could continue their craft.

In his innovative process, he incorporates a fine layer of compressed mesh between two sheets of rubber, adding pigments to create a strong, colorful, and resilient material that can be shaped like leather, but without any religious constraints. The first creation, a striking tarpaulin blue, was chosen for its political significance to the Dalit community, symbolizing strength and resilience.