Freedom of expression

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. Andy Warhol. 

Our local artists always come up with surprising ways to explore the domain of Art. Performance art has long been considered as a vibrant medium,  where the artists get to explore their own emotions and transform them into acts which make and create a difference.  

Equinox to Equinox — Freedom and Democracy 2018 was a recent performance held at the Cubbon Park limits. The performers were Clyde D Mello, Jeetin Rangher, Dhiraj Pednekar and Monica Nanjunda. Same Difference: Equinox to Equinox was done with the intention of celebrating generosity of spirit that artists can bring to life and marked a specific time and connectivity through Performance Art. While every artiste had their own agendas they all pulled the performance with elan. Clyde Dmello, the Mangalorean who teaches at NIFT Bengaluru came up with his performance which was aimed at asking the specific question ‘what does freedom mean’ to us. The material he used for this performance was ink and brush on paper where the artist wrote the following with its iterations “What is freedom? Who is freedom? What are her freedoms and what are his freedoms?. Finally "painting layers of Ink on the words written and with question marks over till they just vanish as in the process of erasure of freedom. The artist has forged a connect with ink to the print media. The medium of Ink is closely related to the printing press as in the context of the spread of information. 

Speaking about his practice the artiste says “My practice meanders through drawing and its iterations be it illustrative, writing installations and photography or performativity. I use randomisation in my process and its instinctive insights rather than a plan to place my work through. Most of my art practice is on questioning structures through the mediums mentioned above by a sincere effort of provocation through satire and writing poetry. ‘’ 

Another artist who has been consistently reclaiming his spot as the prolific performance artist is Paramesh Jolad. Paramesh’s performance was aimed at ridiculing how, even after 150 years, the scavengers are looked down upon and how they are denied basic humane working environments. Dressed as a scavenger and a sanitary worker himself, Paramesh’s performance had everyone emotional and in awe. Titled  ‘Sambhrama’ he tried to portray the sanitary worker’s problems by celebrating this event in a positive way. The heart-wrenching performance won him appreciation from the onlookers. 

When so many shows are done to generate awareness, Artmantram Foundation, spearheaded by Jija Harisingh wasn’t far behind. They had organised an Art awareness activity for the cancer patients of Kidwai, Kapoor ward. Eminent artists created various drawing and painting activities and it had speakers like senior cartoonist Sridhar Comaravalli, who taught and addressed the young patients. There were cartooning and doodling sessions There was also an Origami workshop by Sunaina Sood Bawa. Jija Harisingh and Artmantram. Noted trainer and socialite Cavita Mehra too took part in helping the children. The performances were held last Sunday and the Artmantram event was held on October 2.