INTERVIEW
GLORIFIED RAPES AND SUPERWOMAN
PERFORMANCES
In this candid interview, Nagpur based sculptor and performance
artist Shweta Purushottam Bhattad
speaks to JohnyML about her concerns
as a woman living in contemporary India. She reveals the horrifying stories of
child abuse within the domestic sphere by relatives. Shweta’s works extensively
documents similar stories. Excerpts from the interview:
(Shweta Purushottam Bhattad)
JohnyML: You studied sculpture but you switched to performances.
Could you please tell why you chose performance over sculpting?
Shweta Purushottam Bhattad: I did my studies in Sculpture but I always worked
with the various mediums which I felt best for expressing me and my concerns. I
started performing during my Masters but, those were performed in studio and
then recorded in form of videos and then I used these video installations with
my art works.
Sometimes
I feel that for the work I want to do, or I want to show, the language of
sculpture become very limited. I feel that I want to say something more but
then I find my creations merely the show pieces for the walls. As most of the concerns I am working with is related to
some or other social harms and for that the audience I need is local people, I
feel galleries have access to very limited people in that way.
Mostly
I work on the concerns, which worries me, and I feel intense need to speak on
it, to work on it… I feel my responsibility towards it… with my performances I
can reach to mass public, who can be a Rickshaw Driver or a vegetable vender, or
for whom access to art otherwise is not common. Also then the concern I want to
talk on, reaches to the mass in that way… As an artist and human I feel more
content in this practice, as I know what change it can bring and why in this
time it is more important to do what I am doing. I feel that performances are
the best way of expressing myself and to involving audience, so that they get
involved with the performance which ends to a lot of questions in their mind,
about performance, about what I wanted to talk on and then they start thinking,
reacting on it and asking questions on it… I always design the visual of my
performances keeping in mind that whom I need to reach and what seed I need to
plant.
Most of my performance
are time based and site specific.
JML: What was your sculptures like before you entered this
performance practice?
SPB: In my masters I worked with the interviews of the girls who were
abused… That was the time I did some installations, videos and some kinetic
sculptures which revolve around the same concern.
JML: You wear a chastity belt in one of the performances and lie
down on the ground in different locations. What provoked you to do this
performance?
SPB: My works are very much connected to me and how I had grown up… It
evolved out of my experiences…
My
own childhood experiences, where I was living in the joint family, facing
abuses from the summer guests crowding our huge joint family and my mind for
many years… At the end of the academic sessions, every child in my school use
to wait for summer holiday, leaving me restless… My own experiences of how this guilt and
fear started boarding my body, then mind, then feelings and thoughts, killing
something inside me, leaving my stomach and words empty for many years, till I
came to know about the similar abuses happening around me…
This
anger got vent, when after so many years I could give speech to these
sufferings through my art…
From
past some years I am closely working with the women sexually harassed and also
on its physio-psychological effects on them, the trauma they suffered after
such abuses… closely conversing with different people in the field working on
its long term effects and consequences… working with the interviews of girls
who suffered abuses announcing for the open call for the women who have
suffered such abuses I was shocked to find many untold stories every next
door… May be because of my own
experiences of growing years, I can feel more attached to its sufferers and can
work on it, because I can feel it… And because of this the inspiration comes
from within my own concerns…
My
previous works, during masters, started with the interviews of the girls who
faced the abuses, including my own interview which I incorporated in the
chastity belts, It was a cathartic experience for all of us who interviewed,
because there we shared some untold secrets of our lives which were buried in
us killing our souls for years. For the first time we freed ourselves in front
of the world… I know how it feels being out of cage after the years of imprisonment.
However, in these interviews I hide the identity of the girls…
There
are many numbers of reasons for Rapes,
molestations and abuses… During these interviews while working and having lots
of close conversations with many people, psycologists, doctors, social workers,
lawyers and different people who are working with the rape victims and child
abused girls, I found that though there are many reasons related to rape, but
what our POP culture serves the youths and generations, through movies and TV
serials also plays a very important role in educating them in either way…
Sometimes In theaters I get shocked seeing people shouting, enjoying,
commenting on such glorified Rape Scenes which makes me wonder that how these
sufferings can amuse and provoke people to such extent that their sensibilities
die, people say that movies are inspired by real life… But, on contrary large
number of people get inspired by the living, fashion in films… So what effect
does the eve teasing and the glorified rape scenes in the movies brings to
people…? All the movies serving
glorified rape scenes, if we see their promotional ads in TV or posters or any
social media, these scenes are shown highlighting and we see only action and
not its consequences… Because of all these experiences, talks and observations
I decided to do this performance.
SPB:
Gender politics; It starts right from our homes and
it starts in such tender age that many accept that being women is the curse of
previous birth… I have heard people saying “agar is janam mai aache karam
karonge to agle janam mai ladka ban kar paida honge”… The fact that before
birth, gender identification results to female feticide itself is the big
example of gender politics… I feel this
reform should start from our homes, from the very infancy men get entitlement
for many things, it starts from the very basic activity of dining, they are
always served first by women ... The girls always face discrimination beginning
from their homes, as a result soft mind casts to accept this prejudice as their
fate, for them, then it’s no more the inequity… and vice versa for men too… Our
society serves unfair to women; as a result males become incapable of
respecting women as persons of female gender deserving respect just as themselves.
Hence, the awareness of many such discrimination should be the part of school
education and also the home teachings, so as through the roots we can kill this
evil of minds, hearts and beliefs.
JML: How did Delhi audience respond to
your Chastity Belt Performance?
SPB: I was called for this performance in Delhi during Art Fair in
Feb 2013, in a event called Publica… I was supposed to perform this in “Delhi
Hatt” which is a public shopping area and in a Mall called “Great India Place”
It was a one week performance… I was first supposed to perform in the opening
of publica in a hotel and then it was going to open for public… When I performed
in the opening, I got good response from some visitors and media… some saying
it was a shocking, intense, bold and shaking performance and others just
viewing from the corners of their eyes, keeping the distance from performance…
Next day I did not get the permission to perform from Delhi Haat and Great
India Place mall authorities who were present in the opening day performance
showing their worries on, what effect such performances in their premises will
put on their image in media and public…
I
was told that I can perform if I sit on chair and videos are not clear, or if
they put barricades around me so that people will not have closer look to the
performance or I change the video inside, which I later denied…
SPB: It was in a one week residency at Barbil- Orissa organized by
“Utsha Foundation” in collaboration with Arya Groups, which runs Iron &
steel company and have some iron mines under them… Barbil is the place where
there are huge Iron ore mines…
Staying in Maharashtra
I know about the coal mines… But I had never seen Iron mines so was very
excited to have opportunity to see it and how it works… we were taken to the
factory where the company makes iron balls from the dust of the iron, before
entering we were provided with the helmets’ and the masks explaining that the
dirt and the smoke here consists of the fine dust of iron which is harmful for
lungs and breath… Entering inside the factory I lost all my excitement, seeing
a large number of labors, men & women working without any such mask and
helmet… We were there just for a week but they give their lives to these
factories… However now seeing those amusing machines and the question how the
iron and steel made out of this dust never excited me… But what crowded my mind
all through the residency was the red iron dust clad faces of the men and women
working there…
After the factory when
we were taken to the mines, it was a huge land, a Jungle which was on lease by
government handed over to a company… We were allowed to enter but with the
special permissions and no cameras… When after asking a lots of questions the
guards let us in, We were driven inside the area, A long patch we covered was
very green with trees that might be aged for hundred of years or might be much
more… It seemed like we were on jungle safari, unless after covering a large
area we came across almost the same length of the area, which was converted
into a dry, dead, barren land… It was hard to believe that after covering the
kilometers and kilometers of green, rich jungle you will all of the sudden land
to a burned, destroyed, raped land… And it was the same feeling grave and
lifeless, which left my mouth dry… Wherever I moved my eyes till I could see
the horizon I could never trace the evidence of green, not a single sprout not
a single plant…!! The loss beyond repair and what can I do…?? Only I can answer
myself that the iron coming out of these mines is used for our development…
Development!! But whose development and on what cost? All in my eyes after that
was the red faces of laborers and the red, dead dry face of the land… And only
the word came to my mind that time was Faith… When you feel helpless, and your
feeling cannot face the reality the only thing which remains with you is
“Faith”… “Faith”, that everything will be in its shape one day…
So I decided to meet
the land, the barren land with life once again and the 100 plants I chose to
perform with...
JML: You assume a persona in your performances. Could you please
tell us more about this assumed personality?
SPB: In most of the performance I wear white,
because I feel that it gives the strong visual to the performance holding the
attention of the viewer without revealing my Identity, sometimes which I feel
is strongly needed…
Also
white I feel is so neutral colour that it does not represent any caste or
religion, the white wig hides the description of age and also it attracts the
curiosity of the viewer which is the purpose of my performances…
In
most of the performance I colour this white attire too, but it totally depends
on what visual I want and so it is not necessary that I will forever continue
with this persona…
JML: What are your current projects and future ones?
SPB: Presently I am working on some performances,
which I have planned to perform in the villages near Nagpur in collaboration
with some people who are social workers, farmers and film makers… Also I have
my studio at Nagpur, where I am working on some art works and video
installations…
One
of the current performances I am working on, is to be performed in the villages
nearby… In the farms there is the extensive use of synthetic wire net… Farmers
use it for monkeys, but lots of birds fall its prey… However these nets are not
useful for frightening monkeys too, but there is not proper awareness about it…
Recently I come across such incidents and feel the strong need to work on it…
NEWS
An Artist’s Psyche
Tangerine Art Space,
Bangalore presents a show of paintings by artist Ramesh Chandra, in a show of
his recent water colour works. Ramesh is fascinated by human psychology and
skillfully incorporates it in his strongly narrative and visually engaging works.
Human figures and human
psyche are intertwined in an array of seemingly simple water colour paintings.
Conflicts are enhanced using myriad hues and a sensitive relationship between
form and content is brought to the fore.
Metaphors of flowers and
vines as qualities of the heart to be nurtured and preserved are seen and human
beings with twisting tongues depict the nature of mankind to control things.
The show is on view till
the 5th of June 2013.
Art Museums in India - A lecture
The Dr Bhau
Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai presents a lecture by New Delhi based curator and
researcher Vidya Shivadas on 25th of May 2013. The topic of the lecture is
‘Site Under Construction - Notes on the Contemporary Art Museum’.
The lecture is
a part of the exhibition ‘Zones of Contact: Propositions on the Museum’
co-curated by Vidya along with Akansha Rastogi and Deeksha Nath at the Kiran
Nadar Museum of Art, (KNMA) Noida.
The lecture
draws excerpts from the working notes of this exhibition and examines the role
of contemporary art museums in the sub-continent. Taking cues from James
Clifford’s ‘Contact Zones’ where the museum is seen as a zone for interplay
between cultures and communities of diversity, and promoting engagement and
interaction, the exhibition tries to incorporate these points when addressing
the future of private museums which may change the landscape of India.
Vidya intends
to address the issues of globalization with respect to the Indian scene of
private museums and formations of specific identities therein.
Vidya Shivadas
is a curator and researcher based in New Delhi. After completing her Masters in
Art Criticism from Faculty of Fine Arts, M S University, Vadodara in 2000. She
has been working and curating shows at the Vadehra Gallery, New Delhi, since
she joined in 2002.
The lecture
will take place at 6:30 pm on the 25th of May 2013.
Women-speak-
Feminist Mappings - II
Art Heritage Gallery,
New Delhi presents a two persons show titled, ‘Feminist Mappings II’. The
participating artists Neena Nehru and Anita Tiwary display an array of
sensitive and questioning works which examine the issues of women in today’s
society through their collection of paintings and installation works.
While one section
explores the changing face of women’s persona through out their lives, as seen
in Neena’s works, another section explores the quiet communication and interplay between what is real and unreal
in her paintings. Obscuring reality and bringing forth abstraction as a visual
to portray realities is what Anita’s work seems to depict.
The two diverse artistic
expressions evoke a certain amount of curiosity in the viewer and question their
sensibilities with regard to women’s issues and gender related issues.
The show is on view till
the 25th of May 2013.
WALA’s Multiplex - a performance
‘WALA’s Multiplex’ is
taking place on the 26th of May 2013, 6:00 pm onwards.
The event is fourth in
the ‘Kachra Seth’s Observatory’ project. Earlier projects were ‘ Narcissist in
the Mirror Shop: a Walk from National Museum to National Gallery of Modern Art’
which took place in March 2012, ‘WALA’s Metro Adventure: A Guided tour From
Central Secretariat to IFFCO Chowk’ in
May 2012, and the ‘Sprawl is
Louder, Louder and Louder’ in February 2013.
WALA is a Delhi based
collective formed by Akansha Rastogi, Paribartana Mohanty and Sujit Mallik.
WALA acts as a producer of situations, encounters, devices , formats that allow
interactions and dialogues with artists present or in their absence. WALA is
associated with performance art and community art projects.
The venue for the event
is : S-Block, Gate No.1, DLF, Dilshad Extension-II, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, or
call call us at 9999349379, 9911455909, 8285966059.
(News Reports by Sushma Sabnis)
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