In America, people are free to walk where they want, marry whom they choose and pursue their own dreams. In India, however, the caste system that has been in place for thousands of years keeps many poor and uneducated people from bettering themselves. Those at the bottom of the caste system are known as “untouchables.”

Savi Savarkar was one of the untouchables, but was able to get a good education, attend an art school and is now a professor at the University of Delhi in the College of Fine Arts. His work is currently being displayed at gallery 181 in the College of Design through Saturday.

Gary Tartakov, professor of art and design and interim director of African-American Studies, gave a lecture Monday night about his views and interpretations of Savarkar’s art and the issues it expresses.

“It’s very complex to talk about different cultures. All the different democracies are developing and India’s democracy is developing like ours did,” Tartakov said.

Other untouchables, such as Savarkar, have given themselves the name of “Dalit,” especially those who are political activists. The name means “oppressed” and highlights the persecution and discrimination that more than 160 million untouchables face every day.

He said there are almost no untouchables in this country because those here are in the upper classes of the caste system.

“What that means in the fine arts is that very few Dalits have gotten to an art school,” Tartakov said.

Eleanor Zelliott, professor emerita at Carleton College, Minn., and author of “Untouchable Saints: An Indian Phenomenon,” has taken an interest in Dalits’ art.

“The economic situation of most Dalits makes it difficult to put aside earning for the family and pursue some sort of artistic career. Nevertheless, there is an interest in art, and the Dalit magazines and books are usually very avant garde in their use of art,” she said.

Savarkar is not only unique in his education, but is public with his status as a Dalit, whereas other artists and activists don’t talk about it.

“It’s insulting to the upper castes – intentionally and consciously. Therefore, he doesn’t sell real well [in India]. He sells internationally,” Tartakov said.

One painting that upper classes may find particularly insulting is Savarkar’s interpretation of Manu, the great law-giver of India. Savarkar portrays him as a monster because it was Manu who gave the laws that included the caste system that made Savarkar a Dalit. These laws made crimes against an untouchable insignificant, but crimes against Brahmans, the highest class, to be the worst thing a person could do. The Brahman view of Manu portrays him as prestigious and god-like.

“His art work targets Brahman orthodoxy. His other issue is sympathy for the prostitute and an effort to draw her suffering and yet her dignity,” Zelliott said. “One painting which I find very touching is one of an untouchable carrying a dead cow across his shoulders, a comment on the traditional duty of the untouchable to carry carcasses from the village. The issue represented here is the humiliation of the untouchables’ traditional duties in the village.”

Zelliott said although this discrimination may not end in her lifetime, she does believe that someday both racial differences and caste differences will cease to be important.

Tartakov also realizes that caste is still revered in smaller communities where democracy isn’t as prevalent.

“In small villages, caste is still there. If someone reports that the landowners’ daughter is mistreated, the Dalits in the village can be forced to not wear shoes for a year-and-a-half,” Tartakov said. “In the big cities it’s less apparent and some people claim it’s not even there.”

Savarkar’s pieces are expressive, with wild strokes and sketches of Dalits oppressed by the caste system and upper classes. Tartakov said Pablo Picasso influenced Savarkar’s art. Savarkar has other influences, as well.

“Diego Rivera was such a draw that Savi [Savarkar] spent three years in Mexico studying his art,” Zelliott said.