Curated by Rasna Bhushan at the Vidyasagar Art Centre, Hyderabad
Sponsored by Alliance Francaise/ GOETHE-ZENTRUM HYDERABAD
Note to the Curator and Sponsors
Besides painting, I have been working on two seemingly very different projects. I call them projects for want of a better word.
One is Listening Post, and the other, Narratives of Strength and Survival: The Himmat Workshops.
Projects are, by and large, collaborative in nature. Also, they never really end. Therefore, how they progress beyond the initial phase, which is perhaps more structured than what might follow, is an open question – the scope in fact begins to widen. It is a challenge to find ways of retaining the collaborative element within the changing context of time, to remain faithful to the original intention and quest, and yet to allow new ideas and audiences to shape the future. This comes about purely through the interest that projects generate – grounded as they are in community, the community responds.
The residency in Hyderabad is structured as four sessions of four days each over a period of four months. I would begin with an installation of Listening Post and an audio visual power point presentation, and would like to develop one of its aspects through a workshop conducted by a musician or a theatre person – if we are able to find someone who might want to do it. I have forwarded the introductory material to Rasna, in addition to the earlier text sent a few weeks ago.
The Himmat Workshops involved working with six adolescents from Naroda Patia which was one the worst hit areas during the right wing pogroms of 2002. I could do a presentation, as well as share some of the written documentation with those interested. There are six films, which could also be screened – or perhaps a small installation could be created along with the films and some of the other material that is currently with me. I could continue to write, as there are six more small books that are in the making. In addition Zubaan books, New Delhi has expressed an interest in making one large book with images and text – I could use the residency to streamline the existing material. All of this might not be possible, one would have to work selectively, and within the time frame, of course.
During the talks I would like to create a common thread that would explore the nature of art projects and reveal the processes involved: aspects of visual documentation and their ethics, how these are assimilated into mainstream practice, and so on. I would particularly like the residency to benefit students of art.
Vasudha Thozhur
2008, Baroda
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