6th Baguashan Powerart Performance Festival, Changua Taiwan,
Curated by Yujun Ye
27th October 2024
@Changhua Nanguokeng Riverside Plaza (Changhua Arts High School Third Campus), kaobinge
The second performance was on the next day. I prepared a structure with four sides using branches and rope to hold onto the text on the cloth. The performance resonated with the land of Changhua, Taiwan. It started with a vision to grasp the land with four words describing people and land.
The land of Formosa,
The four-direction spirits represent four side temples in Changhua city and the cardinal four-direction.
The land of Bagushan Buddha (Big Buddha)
The Prayer from the Machu goddess temple in the Glass factory
These words are structured and serve as a foundation for the land and its people. The primary challenge was translating this message into Mandarin Chinese and having it on white cloth. I approached Ting Yung Chang for assistance, and she quickly helped me with the translation.
The upcoming challenge was to design a sculptural structure, and I couldn't help but feel a wave of excitement mixed with apprehension. With the clock ticking down, the pressure was on to transform our ideas into something truly captivating in a limited timeframe. I spent the morning preparing, and after giving a talk on ecology and art practice, I hurried to start working on my sculpture. Surprisingly, I noticed the text was ready on four long pieces of clothes written magically and placed on a chair. I later learned that the artist and designer, Zoey Wu, created it. It was my first encounter with her, and I felt overwhelmed.
As I was constructing the sculpture, although it seemed like an impossible task, I told someone that I had faith it would happen and did not know how it turned out to be true.
The performance started as planned, featuring a sculptural headdress symbolizing the land and its spirits. I walked toward a separate space, passing through a miniature replica of a military building. I invited people to write messages for their ancestors, friends, or loved ones who belonged to this land and foreign lands. The Messages were in Mandarin Chinese, which I could not understand. Later, I asked the audience to paste these messages onto my body, and I concluded my performance by offering a prayer for the land and its people.
Dimple B Shah 27th October 2024
2 comments:
You perform for Enlightenment, to awaken people, to make realize that we are because of our forefathers; time and again this is the vitality of spiritual existence and for raising our levels of consciousness through evolution, until we like Rivers become one with the Sea. This reminds me of the Monk from Ramakrishna Ashram say.. "Be in the Boat, but never let the water in."
Thank you @Hariram sir for your valuable and insightful comments.
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