A Second Coming: Arko Datto Discusses Dinos of Hindostan

“After the recent surgical strikes and associated humiliations that India faced at the hands of the Chinese military, anti-Chinese sentiments have, unsurprisingly, once again been running high. Chintoo soon became the victim of attacks by nationalist thugs who started calling him a Chinese stooge, a spy, an informant. He has since resorted to hiding inside the dinodumpyard, camouflaging himself with smatterings of neighbouring foliage. He has also changed his name to Hintoo to avoid further endangering of self.”

This account by BeeGee, the fictional documentarian/ archivist at the Institute for Contemporary Dinosaur Studies, Kolkata is one of many fantastical events that make up Arko Datto’s Dinos of Hindostan. Currently existing in the form of an Instagram handle of the same name, Datto deftly weaves elements of humour, science and current affairs to construct a world of uncanny political satire. Presented as a second coming of the Dinosaurs, the threatening atmosphere created by an authoritarian Hindu leader is portrayed in Datto’s work through cleverly shrouded references to recent events in India. Some of these include the building of detention camps following the sudden exclusion of people from the National Register of Citizens, the unprecedented violence and lynching initiated by the cow protection vigilante groups under the Bharatiya Janata Party's rule, the widespread attacks against Muslim and Dalit communities in the country and so on. An eclectic array of characters including the Nomorex, Omit Rex and the vigilant duo Dr Parthasarathy and Bishnu Gopal Datta (BeeGee) take part in this inventive chronicle. 

In the first of a two-part conversation, Datto sheds light on translating some of the aspects of the graphic novel—dialogue, characters and sequence—to photography. Focusing on his Dinos of Hindostan project, the conversation delves into genres of fiction, science and documentary and their blurring in Datto’s work.

_{(Featured image: From the ongoing series Dinos of Hindostan. Arko Datto. Kolkata, 2020.)}

Interview with Sukanya Baskar, 3rd Feb 2021

You can watch the second part of this conversation here.