Abstract
The Indian Evidence Act of 1872 defined a fact according to interior as well as exterior experience, which – from then through to the present – has made the identity of self and nation difficult to prove in India. From a 1912 trial for a ‘princely impostor’ to two for sedition in 1908 and 2016, and from colonial histories to those of contemporary politics, this article weaves together the media constructions of journalists and politicians with recent works by contemporary artists Zuleikha Chaudhari, Dayanita Singh, Sudarshan Shetty and Rina Banerjee. These figures mine archives to turn five types of evidence central to identity formation into the materials of their art: the body, speech, paper, architecture and objects. Thus, in spite of the state’s attempt to pin down identity with evidence, the author tracks how such evidence is as fluid now as it was in the past, from exterior juridical facts to those of interior concern.
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