Across nearly three thousand years and throughout nearly every country in the world, people afflicted by leprosy have been shunted off to remote colonies and forgotten. Millions have suffered and died as a result of discrimination and fear. For generations they have suffered in silence. But now, there is a group of leprosy-affected people in India who have stood forth and have tried to have a voice.

Two years ago an art school was started in a leprosy colony in South India. It was called the Bindu Art School. It took as students, leprosy patients, some of whom had no hands, failing eyesight, and no feeling in their limbs. Some of the students had lived as beggars in the streets, stripped of all human dignity.

Today they have begun to tell their story through beautiful art. The first public showing of their art, at the Apparao Gallery in Chennai , opened to rave reviews. In New Delhi, where the show next appeared, the reaction was strong and enthusiastic. Then in October, they were invited to show at the prestigious Kuntshalle Gallery in Vienna, Austria. The showings were packed. Some of the artists themselves came to demonstrate their painting. Dignitaries, movie and TV stars, and art critics were moved to tears as they witnessed the progression of the artists of the Bindu Art School.

They saw dark, isolationist paintings that over time became paintings of joy with bright and brilliant color. As the artists became more proficient at expressing themselves through art, a transformation began to take place. The themes evolved from pain to joy, some even becoming whimsical. The artists had broken through a huge barrier of history and pain. It became evident that they, too, had gifts and talents to offer the world. Their paintings now sell for hundreds of dollars and are in great demand. They are putting together an American tour.