16 Feb The soul subsists in a silent breath from there to here

Durational interactive performance by Anupam Saikia during 6th episode of Uronto residential art exchange program at Gourarang, Sunamganj, BD.

History of a land and ownership always changes in time and we may get nostalgic and sometimes rational.  In the 6th episode of URONTO, Anupam Saikia explored the art process through the history that “How a psychology took a shape when the geographical contour deviations. Meanwhile conflict endures from there to here.

Space and context have played important role in his work always. The space carries minimum 200 years of history, which slowly demolished physically as well as the narrative should rebuild in the context. During the initials phase of emotional, psychological, physical and anatomical engagement with site Saikia took impressions form the walls which embodied symbols of human power and animalistic instinct many times. All through his art process and performance, Saikia juxtaposed different narratives while trying to involve, re-action, respond, and reinterpretation with the history space and time.

On the other hand, the context has historical connection to saikia’s homeland, Assam, that he tried to re-establish through the political map in different time, which was drawn on news-paper, and pasted on old broken wooden door of the palace.

Despite many difficulties of working in Bangaldehs being an Assamese, Saikia found many similar contexts with his hometown, while having conversaiton and interqating with the locals in Gourarong, Like dialect, food habbit, language, culture etc. Where the local giving more importance to religion interms of his identity there Saikia had to take a positon as an artist above religious specification.  

He painted geographical map of the region on newspaper where he painted the eastern region of India Subcontinent. There is a four-part and every part has another four-part divided by door structured itself, where one is only land and water, though we can recognize the land but not naming by the ownership and the second part is the growth of British Bengal, Assam and Burma. the third part is in 1947 “the partition” and the fourth is after the 1971, “liberation war” of Bangladesh. We can see the land and ownership is changes always time to time and the narratives, conflict fabricated in locals at the same context.

His performance was a durational exercise through the entire period of the program which ended with actions of filling out the map with mud, manifesting the suffocating reality, taking a nap among the ruin. But the performance was never really end for the locals, they kept following Saikia up to the pond while he took a bath after the performance even till the next day in his every movement the local were following him expecting more actions, being fascinated by the essence of his durational performance.

more about the work at artists blog

Anupam Saikia is a Visual Artist based and work in Delhi and Assam. Anupam is a Prolific Painter, along with he is mostly focusing on interactive multidisciplinary Art and Performance Art, as mediums exploring new areas, method, exploration with time and context National and International level. He is a founder member of Anga Art collective est. in 2010, Among the first art collective in Northeast India.