Labyrinth: Reflections on 21st-century politics
Title: Labyrinth: Reflections on 21st-century politics (2017)
A solo show organized by Backyard Civilization (an artist collective) and other friends and comrades from Kerala.
Site: BC Gallery, Kochi, Kerala, India.
Dimension: Variable.
Media: Xerox prints, painted banners, posters and festoon on handwoven and rough cotton cloth, painted canvas, watercolour painting on paper pasted on cloth, charcoal drawing on paper pasted on cloth, copy painting by oil on canvas (Van Gough’s “Potato eater”) video, handwritten wall text, Chinese ink drawing on uncut handmade paper and A4 xerox sheet, graphite drawings, printed posters, pinback badges, reflective tape, poster stickers, printed text, curated performative activities and discussion.
Description:
This work is an attempt to create an irreal surface within a structural sphere that addresses the problem of alienation and the possibility of immunity. It’s an attempt to understand the mode of production in contemporary India, by giving special attention to its socio-political and cultural aspects, with all its violent contradictions. I try to identify the limits and the consequences of such a historical problematic by unfolding different ‘labyrinths of thoughts. My attempt here is to chalk out the exploitation and irrefutable hardships endured by the contemporary proletariats, an undeniable blow of Fascist shudder. In other words, the structure of critique requires a counter idea where the notion of proletariat along with the concept of capitalism and fascism should be brought under the cold hammer.
Being a solo exhibition, it was given that my works will be the primary aspect of the entire process. But right from the outset, me, my friends and comrades wanted to create it as more of a discursive space, and allow me to find a departure point to turn the exhibition into a dynamic process of sharing ideas, information, and knowledge; where practitioners of various mediums can come together and work towards the idea of collective art practice. It was 'we' from the very beginning as several of my comrades came in and actively participated to extend the possibilities of what a gallery space can offer to an artist.
Practitioners from Kolkata (Abir and Sudip), Maharashtra (Abhilasha Srivastava), Tamil Nadu (Kumar Shaw) and Kerala (Nikhil KC, Praveen Ashokan, Hari Prasad, Sabin Joseph, Nashid, Prince and others) came and put forth their ideas regarding how the paintings can be curated. They played a major role behind installing and conceptualizing all the works up on the wall. Abir, Kumar, Sabin, Hari, Nikhil created many posters which were put up in the locality. An environmental science research scholar and political activist from Maharashtra, Abhilasha Srivastava, came in and worked with us, and shared her perspective from a different point of view.
During the initial discussions regarding the exhibition, a theatre practitioner from Kerala Salvin V F and other participants (Nikhil, Vipin, Jijo Joy, South Side, Vishnu, Alex, Gopalan, Jithin, Sridar) decided to use the space for a theatre performance. During the exhibition (22nd December), they transformed the entire space and performed their new theatre production, titled Eternal Return of the Same. I shared my ideas regarding the exhibition to a long-time friend and a documentary filmmaker Sudip Chakraborty back in Kolkata three months ago. And he decided to come and stay with us at Fort Kochi and document the entire process; right from the initial ideas for the exhibition, staying right till the end. He is now working on post-production.
Our primary objective was to initiate a dialogue between artists and spectators, to bridge the invisible gap and create an atmosphere for sharing experiences. During the exhibition, several people from different parts of the world came and they too became part of the practice. For instance, while discussing my works on student's struggle, students from several European countries shared experiences about their participation in students’ movement in their respective countries. Through our discussions, they came to know about the atrocities perpetrated on tribal people by the Indian state, and they informed us about state-sponsored terrorism in their countries. For instance, one American spectator shared the news of oppression on Native Americans in his country.
From an online conversation with Surya Shankar Das, an activist and filmmaker from Odisha, we got a chance to present the contradictions in the contemporary Indian art world, as it is majorly driven by corporate funding and other similar supports. He himself works as a ‘propagator of truth’ – a key idea behind the exhibition – through sharing a testimony written by Sini Soi, an Adivasi leader from Odisha. The note narrated the shocking atrocities committed by the TATA corporation against the local Adivasi people and their resistance movement, and the traumatic experiences that Soi herself had to endure as a member of the community.
Another most important aspect of the exhibition was that the entire project was crowdfunded. It wouldn't have been possible for all of us to stay and do our work during the exhibition without the support of these people.
