Unfinished (2013/2014)
Inspired by Sikh-Hungarian painter Amrita Sher-Gil (1913-41) and her work – from childhood drawings, letters and articles, to her final unfinished painting — UNFINISHED unfolds into abstracted movement sequences, fragments of text and images exploring different facets of a nomadic aesthetic. Focusing on changing motifs and concerns in transit between Europe and India, the project explores the tensions, distances, displacements and overlaps of a nomadic aesthetic that feminist theorist Rosi Braidotti describes as “in transit” and “neither here nor there” (Braidotti 1994, p.14).
Amrita Sher-Gil is quoted to have said in 1936: “Art, it is my conviction, must be connected to the soil if it is to be vital” (Sher-Gil in Khullar 2012, p.164).
For the work UNFINISHED I translate this conviction to mean that I will not perform the same production in multiple locations. As a piece UNFINISHED needs to reflect a “connection to the soil” and respond to the various locations it is and will be performed in.
Hence, as a piece, UNFINSIHED is performed as distinctly different ITERATIONS designed to change with each performance location, context or venue.
Iteration I (2013)
Performed at Siddharth Hall, Max Mueller Bhavan, New Delhi on 6-8 September 2013
UNFINISHED- Iteration I grew out of dialogues between Sandra Chatterjee, choreographer and performer of UNFINISHED and the New Delhi-based theatre director, Aditee Biswas, drawing on associations with Sher-Gil’s images and their present-day resonances Biswas and Chatterjee both resonate with Sher-Gil’s life and work. Just as Sher-Gil traveled to various continents and absorbed cultural influences that impacted her ideas and work, they too straddle Europe and India in idiosyncratic ways, assuming the role of translators.
Credits:
Performance and Choreography: Sandra Chatterjee, Direction & Design: Aditee Biswas, Technical Direction: Rajesh Singh, Sound Design: Peter Arun Pfaff, Additional Music: Bridget Grey, Lal Forest, Costumes: Shree Biswas
Acknowledgements: Production is supported by the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhawan, New Delhi
Iteration II (2014)
Performed at National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi on 7 February 2014
Performed in conjunction with the closing ceremony of the birth centenary celebrations of Amrita Sher-Gil, Iteration II was based on but very different from Iteration I, to account for the special venue, which houses a large collection of Amrita Sher-Gil’s paintings.
Credits:
Performance and Choreography: Sandra Chatterjee, Direction & Design: Aditee Biswas, Technical Director: Malavika Rao, Sound Design: Peter Arun Pfaff, Additional Music: Bridget Grey, Lal Forest, Costumes: Shree Biswas
Acknowledgements: Presented by National Gallery of Modern Art