Mysuru: The art show titled ‘Rituals of Birth and Death’ which has been organised below Badsha’s Pride, #11, Nelson Mandela Road, Bannimantap, began last evening. The art expo that has paintings, installation arts and images that establishes a connect with the rituals of birth and death and involves intellectual thinking of how the tradition and ritual become a part of the culture.
On the opening night, there was a talk show by Suresh Kumar, an artist from Bengaluru who spoke about life and burial. This session was followed by a talk on how an act or practice becomes a ritual by Prof. M.A. Narasimhan. Their talks clearly emphasised on the deviations in philosophies based on religious and political situations. G.S. Bhavani and Smitha have made videos on Kodava death ceremonies and the aestheticisation of the dead respectively. There is an installation art at display by A. Uday Ramesh and Anilchandran, a graphic art by Ganesh Srinivasan and paintings by Sujan Ghosh and H.K. Dwarakanath. The expo also has an audio installation art by Shoaib Chadkhan that tells that the phase between birth and death is all a drama of ceremonies, affiliations and ideologies and both the birth and death start and end respectively, involving the concept of heartbeat.
The diptych shows one part that caters to death and the other shows celebration and reflects
on the ritual of how people in some traditions celebrate death and give a grand farewell to the
departed soul.
The show received good response from the audience and reflects the potential of an interdisciplinary art practice bound to emerge in Mysuru. It shows the power of collaboration as an idea can be both local and global with the audience being a mix of Western Yoga students, Indian Philosophers, Painters, Musicians, etc.
Artist S. Ganesh has displayed an art titled ‘Ruthu Chakra’ meaning the cradle of life and death. He has drawn parallels between the cultivation of crops and the burial of human body.
Speaking to Star of Mysore, he said, “Burial is done to honour the body that had carried life so far. The body decomposes into the earth giving birth to microbes that act as rich resources to other life forms like plants. We feed on plants for our survival and our body decomposes and helps in plant growth. Thus the cycle of birth and death has a co-existential significance to nature.”
Several foreigners,Art lovers, musicians and general public are seen at the art expo admiring and discussing the various forms of art.
The show will be open to public from 5.30 pm to 9 pm every evening till Dec. 23. The event will culminate with Dramaturge from Berlin Felizitas Stilleke, Avril Unger and Smitha Cariappa doing a performances next weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday).
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