Bring me the Smell of Earth and I bring you taste of Love II

Jaipur Art Summit 

9th December 2016 Jaipur , India

“We are what we remember. If we lose our memory, we lose our identity and our identity is the accumulation of our experiences. When we walk down the memory lane, it can be unconsciously, willingly, selectively, impetuously or sometimes grudgingly. By following our stream of consciousness we look for lost time and things past. Some reminiscences become anchor points that can take another scope with the wisdom of hindsight. ("Walking down the memory lane") - Erik Pevernagie 

The idea for this Performance was to establish connection to historical aspects of Jaipur City. Jaipur is one of the oldest cities and its architecture is old as 300 to 400 years every stone of the city is embedded with history within. The city has lots to share, from small to big stories of people who lived in this place. Strange and curious stories are embedded in the walls of the city, the people of city who have witnessed the city growing in ages can share lot of untold stories. 

I viewed city through an archeological perspective and I performed as a sort of an archeologist who wants to collect evidence as much as possible from the historical reminiscence of the city, in this process I became part of it and merged with it, camouflaging self with city. I turned myself in pink through ritualistic and per formative act, becoming one with the city turning myself in pink in my mind, heart and soul. The essence of city can be found in various sources in its old historical buildings, be it city streets and lanes, or in its air, in colors of stones and bringing the real essence of pulsating and breathing city not only Capturing its past but the present, which stands for rich Historical and Cultural heritage. 

Through various alchemical processes of collecting grinding filtering Bricks and earth from various corners of city, Merging my body to become part of it. Finding and collecting evidences to understand the art and culture of the city. One need to dig deep to understand the city and it is possible only through close observation of objects, remains like stones and bricks which has embedded history. This performance was collaborated with common audience; they became part of my intervention when they lend their contribution by participating in the performance and by showering pink earth on me and share oral history of the place, and in return take back token of love from artists a sweet which was mix of flavors (Bitter and sweet).

This project was kind of personal journey, a process where I became part of space I visit and live in for some time and establish connection. To understand culture one needs to live not only in monuments, old literature but also connect to local people and know more through oral histories which surely add varied and unique dimension to known histories. My focus was to create a sense for a collective cultural memory, about individuals and also shared spaces, personal /collective journey of self local communities.

It is a process through which we resurface invisible memories into the visible mode. It is a culturaldiscourse of understanding historical city. The performance was to collect the essence of city, reminiscence of rich history of the pink city, and also about dissolving myself in the color and culture of the city. 

Dimple B Shah  November 2016