Possibilities of Porosity
And before speaking, listening to the stone and the flowers; to older women and wise men; to the queer community; to critical voices in the mainstream; to the whispers and warnings of nature.
Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life
Anita Dube
2018/2019
Kochi, Kerala, India
[version published online]
I remember Guy Debord’s warnings of a world mediated primarily through images—a society of the spectacle—as I write this note. That such a society is fascism’s main ally, we are all discovering in different parts of the world today. ¶ Virtual hyper-connectivity has paradoxically alienated us from the warm solidarities of community—that place of embrace where we can enjoy our intelligence and beauty with others, where we can love—a place where we don’t need the ‘other’ as an enemy to feel connected. ¶ At the heart of my curatorial adventure lies a desire for liberation and comradeship (away from the master and slave model) where the possibilities for a non-alienated life could spill into a ‘politics of friendship.’ Where pleasure and pedagogy could sit together and share a drink, and where we could dance and sing and celebrate a dream together. ¶ In this dream, those pushed to the margins of dominant narratives will speak: not as victims, but as futurisms’ cunning and sentient sentinels. ¶ And before speaking, they will listen, like K P Krishnakumar’s Boy Listening—to the stone and the flowers; to older women and wise men; to the queer community; to critical voices in the mainstream; to the whispers and warnings of nature—before it is too late. ¶ If we desire a better life on this earth—our unique and beautiful planet—we must in all humility start to reject an existence in the service of capital. Through the potential of social action, coming together, we ask and search for questions, critical questions, in the hope of dialogue.
[version printed in short guide]
I remember Guy Debord’s warnings of a world mediated primarily through images—a society of the spectacle—as I write this note. That such a society is fascim’s main ally, we are all discovering in different parts of the world today. ¶ Virtual hyper connectivity has paradoxically alienated us from the warm solidarities of community; that place of embrace where we can enjoy our intelligence and beauty with others, where we can love; a place where we don’t need the ‘other’ as an enemy to feel connected. ¶ At the heart of my curatorial adventure lies a desire for liberation and comradeship (away from the master and slave model) where the possibilities for a non-alienated life could spill into a ‘politics of friendship.’ Where pleasure and pedagogy could sit together and share a drink, and where we could dance and sing and celebrate a dream together. ¶ Yet, how can one perform a biennale in a location where the biennale itself has become the sole pedagogic window into the art of the world? In a context that is so particular, as Kerala is, what could be a model, that would would allow for self-determination for the audience? ¶ ‘Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life is therefore conceived in two parts: The exhibition, constructed as a symphony of ideas—synchronous as well as diachronous, with affect and matter of factness—as well as a discursive, performative, architectural space called the Pavillion where everyone potentially can be a curator. The Pavillion can be a space where there would be no hierarchies of who could speak and what could be said and in which language; the joy of listening, speaking—agreeing and disagreeing—and working through differences, contradictions and confusions together with visitors; a perfect site for pleasure and pedagogy. The ethics of ceding authority as a curator in this space can result in the ethos of sharing. ¶ Imagine those pushed to the margins of dominant narratives speaking: not as victims, but as futurisms’ cunning and sentient sentinels. And before speaking, listening to the stone and the flowers; to older women and wise men; to the queer community; to critical voices in the mainstream; to the whispers and warnings of nature. ¶ If we desire a better life on this earth—our unique and beautiful planet—we must in all humility start to reject an existence in the service of capital. ‘Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life’ asks and searches for questions in the hope of dialogue.
2018/2019
Kochi, Kerala, India
[version published online]
I remember Guy Debord’s warnings of a world mediated primarily through images—a society of the spectacle—as I write this note. That such a society is fascism’s main ally, we are all discovering in different parts of the world today. ¶ Virtual hyper-connectivity has paradoxically alienated us from the warm solidarities of community—that place of embrace where we can enjoy our intelligence and beauty with others, where we can love—a place where we don’t need the ‘other’ as an enemy to feel connected. ¶ At the heart of my curatorial adventure lies a desire for liberation and comradeship (away from the master and slave model) where the possibilities for a non-alienated life could spill into a ‘politics of friendship.’ Where pleasure and pedagogy could sit together and share a drink, and where we could dance and sing and celebrate a dream together. ¶ In this dream, those pushed to the margins of dominant narratives will speak: not as victims, but as futurisms’ cunning and sentient sentinels. ¶ And before speaking, they will listen, like K P Krishnakumar’s Boy Listening—to the stone and the flowers; to older women and wise men; to the queer community; to critical voices in the mainstream; to the whispers and warnings of nature—before it is too late. ¶ If we desire a better life on this earth—our unique and beautiful planet—we must in all humility start to reject an existence in the service of capital. Through the potential of social action, coming together, we ask and search for questions, critical questions, in the hope of dialogue.
[version printed in short guide]
I remember Guy Debord’s warnings of a world mediated primarily through images—a society of the spectacle—as I write this note. That such a society is fascim’s main ally, we are all discovering in different parts of the world today. ¶ Virtual hyper connectivity has paradoxically alienated us from the warm solidarities of community; that place of embrace where we can enjoy our intelligence and beauty with others, where we can love; a place where we don’t need the ‘other’ as an enemy to feel connected. ¶ At the heart of my curatorial adventure lies a desire for liberation and comradeship (away from the master and slave model) where the possibilities for a non-alienated life could spill into a ‘politics of friendship.’ Where pleasure and pedagogy could sit together and share a drink, and where we could dance and sing and celebrate a dream together. ¶ Yet, how can one perform a biennale in a location where the biennale itself has become the sole pedagogic window into the art of the world? In a context that is so particular, as Kerala is, what could be a model, that would would allow for self-determination for the audience? ¶ ‘Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life is therefore conceived in two parts: The exhibition, constructed as a symphony of ideas—synchronous as well as diachronous, with affect and matter of factness—as well as a discursive, performative, architectural space called the Pavillion where everyone potentially can be a curator. The Pavillion can be a space where there would be no hierarchies of who could speak and what could be said and in which language; the joy of listening, speaking—agreeing and disagreeing—and working through differences, contradictions and confusions together with visitors; a perfect site for pleasure and pedagogy. The ethics of ceding authority as a curator in this space can result in the ethos of sharing. ¶ Imagine those pushed to the margins of dominant narratives speaking: not as victims, but as futurisms’ cunning and sentient sentinels. And before speaking, listening to the stone and the flowers; to older women and wise men; to the queer community; to critical voices in the mainstream; to the whispers and warnings of nature. ¶ If we desire a better life on this earth—our unique and beautiful planet—we must in all humility start to reject an existence in the service of capital. ‘Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life’ asks and searches for questions in the hope of dialogue.
Why We Disagree
Swami Vivekananda
Parliament of Religion
Chicago, IL, USA
September 11, 1893
I will tell you a little story. You have heard the eloquent speaker who has just finished say, “Let us cease from abusing each other,” and he was very sorry that there should be always so much variance. ¶ But I think I should tell you a story that would illustrate the cause of this variance. A frog lived in a well. It had lived there for a long time. It was born there and brought up there, and yet was a little, small frog. Of course the evolutionists were not there then to tell us whether the frog lost its eyes or not but, for our story’s sake, we must take it for granted that it had its eyes, and that it every day cleansed the water of all the worms and bacilli that lived in it with an energy that would do credit to our modern bacteriologists. In this way it went on and became a little sleek and fat. Well, one day another frog that lived in the sea came and fell into the well. ¶ “Where are you from?” ¶ “I am from the sea.” ¶ “The sea! How big is that? Is it as big as my well?” and he took a leap from one side of the well to the other. ¶ “My friend,” said the frog of the sea, “how do you compare the sea with your little well?” ¶ Then the frog took another leap and asked, “Is your sea so big?” ¶ “What nonsense you speak, to compare the sea with your well!” ¶ “Well, then,” said the frog of the well, “nothing can be bigger than my well. There can be nothing bigger than this. This fellow is a liar, so turn him out.” ¶ That has been the difficulty all the while. ¶ I am a Hindu. I am sitting in my own little well and thinking that the whole world is my little well. The Christians sit in their little well and think the whole world is their well. The Muslims sit in their little well and think that is the whole world. I have to thank you of America for the great attempt you are making to break down the barriers of this little world of ours, and hope that, in the future, the Lord will help you to accomplish your purpose.
Parliament of Religion
Chicago, IL, USA
September 11, 1893
I will tell you a little story. You have heard the eloquent speaker who has just finished say, “Let us cease from abusing each other,” and he was very sorry that there should be always so much variance. ¶ But I think I should tell you a story that would illustrate the cause of this variance. A frog lived in a well. It had lived there for a long time. It was born there and brought up there, and yet was a little, small frog. Of course the evolutionists were not there then to tell us whether the frog lost its eyes or not but, for our story’s sake, we must take it for granted that it had its eyes, and that it every day cleansed the water of all the worms and bacilli that lived in it with an energy that would do credit to our modern bacteriologists. In this way it went on and became a little sleek and fat. Well, one day another frog that lived in the sea came and fell into the well. ¶ “Where are you from?” ¶ “I am from the sea.” ¶ “The sea! How big is that? Is it as big as my well?” and he took a leap from one side of the well to the other. ¶ “My friend,” said the frog of the sea, “how do you compare the sea with your little well?” ¶ Then the frog took another leap and asked, “Is your sea so big?” ¶ “What nonsense you speak, to compare the sea with your well!” ¶ “Well, then,” said the frog of the well, “nothing can be bigger than my well. There can be nothing bigger than this. This fellow is a liar, so turn him out.” ¶ That has been the difficulty all the while. ¶ I am a Hindu. I am sitting in my own little well and thinking that the whole world is my little well. The Christians sit in their little well and think the whole world is their well. The Muslims sit in their little well and think that is the whole world. I have to thank you of America for the great attempt you are making to break down the barriers of this little world of ours, and hope that, in the future, the Lord will help you to accomplish your purpose.
Invisible Cities
Italo Calvino
1972
Last pages of “Hidden Cities”
The Great Khan's atlas contains also the maps of the promised lands visited in thought but not yet discovered or founded: New Atlantis, Utopia, the City of the Sun, Oceana, Tamoe, New Harmony, New Lanark, lcaria. Kublai asked Marco: "You, who go about exploring and who see signs, can tell me toward which of these futures the favoring winds are driving us?" ¶ "For these ports I could not draw a route on the map or set a date for the landing. At times all I need is a brief glimpse, an opening in the midst of an incongruous landscape, a glint of lights in the fog, the dialogue of two passersby meeting in the crowd, and I think that, setting out from there, I will put together, piece by piece, the perfect city, made of fragments mixed with the rest, of instants separated by intervals, of signals one sends out, not knowing who receives them. If I tell you that the city toward which my journey tends is discontinuous in space and time, now scattered, now more condensed, you must not believe the search for it can stop. Perhaps while we speak, it is rising, scattered, within the confines of your empire. You can hunt for it, but only in the way I have said. " ¶ Already the Great Khan was leafing through his atlas, over the maps of the cities that menace in nightmares and maledictions: Enoch, Babylon, Yahooland, Butua, Brave New World. ¶ He said: "It is all useless, if the last landing place can only be the infernal city, and it is there that, in ever-narrowing circles, the current is drawing us." ¶ And Polo said: "The inferno of the living is not something that will be; if there is one, it is what is already here, the inferno where we live every day, that we form by being together. There are two ways to escape suffering it. The first is easy for many: accept the inferno and become such a part of it that you can no longer see it. The second is risky and demands constant vigilance and apprehension: seek and learn to recognize who and what, in the midst of the inferno, are not inferno, then make them endure, give them space."
1972
Last pages of “Hidden Cities”
The Great Khan's atlas contains also the maps of the promised lands visited in thought but not yet discovered or founded: New Atlantis, Utopia, the City of the Sun, Oceana, Tamoe, New Harmony, New Lanark, lcaria. Kublai asked Marco: "You, who go about exploring and who see signs, can tell me toward which of these futures the favoring winds are driving us?" ¶ "For these ports I could not draw a route on the map or set a date for the landing. At times all I need is a brief glimpse, an opening in the midst of an incongruous landscape, a glint of lights in the fog, the dialogue of two passersby meeting in the crowd, and I think that, setting out from there, I will put together, piece by piece, the perfect city, made of fragments mixed with the rest, of instants separated by intervals, of signals one sends out, not knowing who receives them. If I tell you that the city toward which my journey tends is discontinuous in space and time, now scattered, now more condensed, you must not believe the search for it can stop. Perhaps while we speak, it is rising, scattered, within the confines of your empire. You can hunt for it, but only in the way I have said. " ¶ Already the Great Khan was leafing through his atlas, over the maps of the cities that menace in nightmares and maledictions: Enoch, Babylon, Yahooland, Butua, Brave New World. ¶ He said: "It is all useless, if the last landing place can only be the infernal city, and it is there that, in ever-narrowing circles, the current is drawing us." ¶ And Polo said: "The inferno of the living is not something that will be; if there is one, it is what is already here, the inferno where we live every day, that we form by being together. There are two ways to escape suffering it. The first is easy for many: accept the inferno and become such a part of it that you can no longer see it. The second is risky and demands constant vigilance and apprehension: seek and learn to recognize who and what, in the midst of the inferno, are not inferno, then make them endure, give them space."
Interview
Navneet Raman
Interviewed by Vittoria Bonifati
2015
Varanasi
At what point did you get interested in art?
When I was 12 years old, I started to get interested in photography and this became my entry to the world of art.
Can you tell us about Kriti, your gallery, and your vision?
The gallery is a place of interaction among people and between people and people to feel comfortable. Anyone is welcome, whether they come in to look at art or to sit in the garden and just take some time for themselves. We would like to establish a literature cafe, where we have interesting talks, film screenings and workshops. It’s not a profit-oriented idea, but it would give the place more atmosphere and invite people to spend more time here. That’s when the real interaction happens. In India there are not too many places like this, especially away from the metros. Furthermore, Kriti means ‘creation,’ the gallery is also thought of as a place where people become more creative, and thus, less aggressive... I’m taking about violence in humanity. For example, if youngsters interact with art they might find another language to help them communicate emotions. I think this makes them ‘softer.’ I try to set an example and hope that it has a replica effect, from the gallery, to the neighborhood, maybe the city of Varanasi and who knows... so many people from all over the world come to visit Banaras, they might take this back to their countries, as well. ¶ Having said this, I have specific parameters for the gallery’s programme. I will show the finest art that I can bring to Banaras. I look at art as such, and not as Indian Art, German Art, American Art and so forth.
Interviewed by Vittoria Bonifati
2015
Varanasi
At what point did you get interested in art?
When I was 12 years old, I started to get interested in photography and this became my entry to the world of art.
Can you tell us about Kriti, your gallery, and your vision?
The gallery is a place of interaction among people and between people and people to feel comfortable. Anyone is welcome, whether they come in to look at art or to sit in the garden and just take some time for themselves. We would like to establish a literature cafe, where we have interesting talks, film screenings and workshops. It’s not a profit-oriented idea, but it would give the place more atmosphere and invite people to spend more time here. That’s when the real interaction happens. In India there are not too many places like this, especially away from the metros. Furthermore, Kriti means ‘creation,’ the gallery is also thought of as a place where people become more creative, and thus, less aggressive... I’m taking about violence in humanity. For example, if youngsters interact with art they might find another language to help them communicate emotions. I think this makes them ‘softer.’ I try to set an example and hope that it has a replica effect, from the gallery, to the neighborhood, maybe the city of Varanasi and who knows... so many people from all over the world come to visit Banaras, they might take this back to their countries, as well. ¶ Having said this, I have specific parameters for the gallery’s programme. I will show the finest art that I can bring to Banaras. I look at art as such, and not as Indian Art, German Art, American Art and so forth.