Duration 00:50:00
Space- Deoghar (Jahrkhan) India
Photography -Mukunad anand
Duration 00:50:00
Space- Deoghar (Jahrkhan) India
Photography -Mukunad anand
Day -2
day -3
day -4
Collaboration with Nanxi Liu ,Rokko Juhász, Kathleen Meyts Coba, Lori Elisabeth ,Roi Vaara
Roderick Hill , Gallery –Puccs Gallery
Title-The Blindfolded Man
https://soundcloud.com/b-ajay-sharma/man-with-bowel-and-seven-ibrother-bodhgaya-biennale-sound-20016 This was not a Concept note or any framed idea.![]()
Here in this project, I have tried to create and decode few of my actions and references. It was the collaborative performace with seven men who were singing outside the temple in Bodhgaya. There names were Indradev, Guddu, Lakhan, Rajkumar, Mukesh and others. They were blind yet excellent singers and musicians. They belonged to a particular caste of Bihar hence considered low(as Indian society is divided on the basis of caste and according to it people of certain caste are dehumanized and marginalized by the society). There, they were begging outside the Bodhi Temple of Bodhgaya. People were neglecting them despite their great voices and singing style. When I talked with them, Guddu asked me that whether I can provide him a stage to perform as singer and that thought of Guddu appealed to me and I tried to develop a concept where I could share a space with them. In this performance, I sat on the very same place where they used to sit everyday and sing. I asked people especially monks to put silver foil over my body (as it was ritual there to buy silver foil for offering), then I told the seven geniuses to cover their faces and walk along with me on road till stage. On the stage, I covered their faces and they started to perform music. So those artists were without any identity now. Now, they were performers and their connection with their caste was lost for a little while. They sang different folk songs and also some songs from their community(caste community). This is how I tried to transform the space where their identity was beyond the worldly chains.![]()
I started begging from people which is an act of BHIKSHUK(not beggar exactly, it is a cultural offshoot of Buddhism). It symbolize the Budha Sakyamuni who used to live on Bhiksha(alms). There was a great man in India named Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, he worked for the upliftment of lower caste people. Ambedkar embraced Bodhidharma to improve the condition and status of marginalized castes. Looking at those singers in Bodhivihar made me realize how a religion i.e. buddhism, which was once a resistance against the inhuman systems of Hinduism, now is suffering with the same disease on practical grounds.
(After Amabedkar , Cast and Bhuddhism In post modern India itself have very different lairs and paradox within indian social structure and how Foreigners are looking buddhism in India ) This performance is act of understating different layer of cast system and idea and conflict of space "Bhodhgaya" where Buddhist practice taking shape . Title-Blindfoled man Place- Bodhgaya Biennial 2016 Curated by -Rahul Bose & vinay kumar Duration - 01:00:00 Photo by - Vinod Bhardwaj , Naresh Kumar
This is about how extremist right political parties are using religious patriotism (Hindutva), racial and communal issues for their political benefits. Such acts and other such leftover history related to it has helped me in defining the condition and situation of present India in India as well as the world. I have taken the word ”Mara” which means death from an anecdote about the creator of Indian epic Ramayan where it is described that when Valmiki was thief, he got a message from sky to write about the glorious life of lord Rama, after this message he started chanting ”mara” and in this process he kept chanting the word ”Mara”. After certain time when he realized his mistake, The actual name is “RAM ” at that moment, he got enlightened.
weight of stone
My practice of performance is direct or some time I will be correspondence of my act, Death and memory and witnessing of all in space history and fiction narration of such space. Allow me to work and deal with different method, through the image making wit body or photography, I believe i am a painter I am using photography as a painting method, here All space is from my native city Deoghar (Jharkhand) where I grown up since then I visit my city, and water problem day bay day increasing in city, and there is no any resource, there is rain river emerge in monsoon day after that in summer it get dry, so my memory the river in child hood as well now total change and it was all most death space, even the sand is big issue of land Mafia, as well stone are using for cement factory and building making all are political and lace issue which we are dealing with, lot of murder case for all mafia now in survey of environment after 15 year there is no water, water lave1 will draw so deep, so there possible to not excess water from won, every one buying water thought the performance making or before I visit space for knowing and understating the situation and history I thought is very hidden process of performance and convection between me and my body, space and fact of survey. Then I perform in the space, so for me; I am re performing in same space, and that is reference with the death happen before so many time for water, land, sand and stone. Therefore my action is repletion of all those real and fictional fact of space.
How many times it happened there ,Before we called it Performance(weight of stone)
Place -Deoghar ,Jharkhand ,India
Photography assistant – Mukund Ananad
year-2017
Duration -00:30:00
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