Prayers of Shaman -Invoking Healing Goddess

Magdalena:On:line
Bodies:On: Live

Performed Live on 25th June 2021 

https://onlinefestival.themagdalenaproject.org/

Prayer of Shaman –Invoking healing goddess is performance, shamanistic ritual act. It is to establish an image of the pandemic goddess who is a healer. Performer attempted to embody the body through a ritual turning into the Goddess of Pandemic. The performer's body facilitates transmuting the message to her and in the process becoming Goddess herself. 

I  carried on my head the image of the goddess which was a 'Mirror' that would reflect the image of the audience who is interacting with the goddess and there the transformation happens where the audience expects to see the image of a goddess instead they see their own reflection. here the audience takes the position of the goddess and I think everyone has the ability to achieve that state of sacredness and I facilitate to make it visible to my audiences.

The healing happens through various herbal healing plants. The performance deals with my audience through online interaction it will have an impact since every individual has their own psychological and emotional and physical concerns. My work is to build and inspired by the goddess image from my cultural roots but not directly portray it just hinting at my connection. Seeing pandemics from the past one and half years and the critical situations in India I feel like recreating this act again with one more version. This performance was cathartic and transforming not only to the audience but also to me as a performer. 

'Nature is a healer' forms a very integral part of my performance and I  used natural alchemical and medicinal plants  Sacred Plants which are curative and have a lot of health benefits like  Ajwain, ajowan, or Trachyspermum Ammi—also known as ajowan caraway, thymol seeds, bishop's weed, or carom, Neem Leaves, (Tulsi) Holy Basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum), Kama Kasturi l ( Ocimum basilicum). Tumbe plant (Leucas Aspera) and as part of invocation ritual I sowed Seven Scared grains for goddesses. These grains constitute Goddess's. It is an offering to evoke her to invite her to our ritual.  Prayer was offered to form a secret exchange in form of voice modulations. It was an experiential to both me and my audience a kind of spiritual and healing journey. 

In my performance, I had incorporated symbolic object which can metaphorically represent the goddess image but not a religious symbols. It is an artistic exploration to fight this pandemic, to experience catharsis, and create a healing space where both audience and myself can undergo transformation. I shared a  recipe to prepare a tea portion that has medicinal benefits and heals. Dimple B Shah 11 May 2021 Please note it was a different version from the earlier created work.

Dimple B Shah  25th June 2021 

THE HEALING TOUCH OF BAMBOO: SOUL, MIND AND BODY

FOR  4TH GLOBAL ONLINE EVENT  OF BE-COMING TREE https://becomingtree.live/

The scent of dried bamboo leaves slowly merging inside. 

I wished there was sound to be heard of these leaves, deep earthy scent

 I go deeper and deeper the scent draws me closer to it.

 I want to sleep within this mound of dried bamboo leaves, o bamboo tree! 

What a gift o bamboo leaves I can contemplate with you for hours .... you are healing ...

Kalpavirkha a Divine Tree
 

In Becoming tree session 4. Before Lockdown announced I  had planned to work with the bamboo tree and its leaves which is found in abundance on-studio campus, Art village in Bangalore, and wanted to reconnect to this Divine tree which has great power of healing Soul Mind, and Body.

But weekend lockdown announced and no vehicles were to reach but I had planned to do a performance in an Indoor space in my home which is also my studio. The situation in India was very critical then and now there is no beds, no oxygen, and no Ventilators. it is very critical at present. So I planned to get three huge bags of Bamboo dried Leave from the artist's village studio, So on performance day, I created a whole backdrop suitable for performance and I  performed with dried leaves. 

 

It is a common belief in several Asian cultures that humanity emerged from a bamboo stem. In some parts of India, bamboo is also called Kalpavirksha (divine tree in Indian mythology fulfilling all the needs and desires) due to its numerous uses in daily life in physical as well as in spiritual form. The first direct reference to bamboo Indian literature is in “Rig Veda” (5000 BC) “Bestow upon us a hundred bamboo clumps”. Bamboos are symbolic of constancy, fidelity, integrity, and purity (Farrelly 1984) and also inspire the emotional and spiritual life of many people.

#becomingtree #duratioanalperformace #liveforcamer#jatunrishaba #dimplebshah #liveart #performanceart Jatun Risba Be-coming Tree

Dimple B Shah  5th May 2021 

Public Performance Symposium- Out of Site Chicago

A Lecture by 

Dimple B Shah 
Live Art in Bangalore ( Karnataka, South India ) 

Formation, Development, and Expansion 

https://www.flowsymposium.org/lectures 

The talk focused on performance art/ live art its initial years of developments from Installations, experimental movements in public spaces with social concerns as a major area of concern it matured state, and expansion over the span of two decades. 

The Performance art scene in Bangalore (Karnataka) became visible and grew organically since 2000. Bangalore in Karnataka has become the nucleus for Performance Art in India. The Bangalore art scene has always been known for its experimental approaches be it Installation art, Performance Art, or New Media art, It is pioneered as the most happening place in India. we could observe a good deal of groundwork and mature evolution of the performance art scene in Bangalore. With numerous experiments in public spaces, those were based largely on social issues as a core concern. Many artists participated in these events doing both interactive and installation work. Bangalore has made a major contribution to this field right from its early period. These attempts resulted in bringing forth new materials, forms, language, and space. Individualist, collaborative, and connecting with land, communities, and public spaces – artists of Bangalore with determination and restlessness responded to their inner calls. Not only installations but also Performance and Sound art found expressions here in those early times.

Dimple B Shah 23rd April 2021 

Negotiating Rituals- Power of Feminine Energy and Body Practice Based Performance Workshop

Negotiating Rituals -Power of Feminine Energy and Body

A performance Workshop in Three sessions  

 

https://www.flowsymposium.org/workshops/dimplebshah

From Devi-Mahatmya:

By you this universe is borne, By you, this world is created, Oh Devi, by you it is protected.

From Shaktisangama Tantra:

The woman is the creator of the universe, the universe is her form; a woman is the foundation of the world, she is the true form of the body.

In woman is the form of all things, of all that lives and moves in the world. There is no jewel rarer than woman, no condition superior to that of a woman.

This performance workshop was a quest to understand and identify the power of Feminine energy /Shakti. The performance workshop will be a process of mind, body, soul to evoke, emerge, and contemplate the feminine energy. Attempt and understand the image of the feminine in our structure of society conflicting state of feminine energy present in both sacred and no sacred state/space and finally arise to one single form of the identity to the feminine Energy. It is a psychosocial paradigm shift present and past how this supreme female energy which is Reflected nurtured to fit the need of society at point placing in most sacredness and other level abusing in a non-humanistic way. It was to study and analyze how this ‘feminine energy' fitted in the cultural/religious context over the period. In what way it emerged, associate, and fit in cultural and religious rituals.

Re-questioning the appropriation and augmenting. To recognize and to celebrate this Feminine form in a psychological /spiritual /body-mind parameter. The workshop will metaphorically connect to yoni /Garbo (womb), where the ritual directly connects to celebrate the power of feminine energy.

The making of the Durga idol starts from collecting clay from prostitutes' place. It is one of the signs where feminine energy is respected and revered in all form sacred non-sacred forms. Different parts of India celebrate this feminine power in different ways. As per the mythological stories, the feminine power /Shakti has 53 0r 108 Shakti Peetha's (Shakti Temples spread across India where each part of a body of Shakti fell when she was cut by Vishnu each body part now becomes the place of worship called as Peetha's. There is a various manifestation of these feminine energies like Durga, Bhiaravi kali Lakshmi Saraswati this feminine manifestation celebrated in their divine forms. The feminine energy becomes the central force of creation visible in the form of Nature and earth.

Dimple B Shah 2nd May 2021

A Ritual of Transcendence –Finding a Divinity Within

Virtual Matter(S)

Performance Art  Online Series

Curated by Kathie Halfin

Hive Art Community, Newyork USA
Jan 16th, 2021

My Performance was selected for Performance Art online series and it was second lined up after Susan Luss and Kate Quardfort and followed by Patricia Correa
I performed 'A Ritual of Transcendence –Finding a Divinity Within'  on 16th early morning at 6am India Time 2021

The idea was to bring transforming experience in others even if it one a true performance act when we initiate and transform and one to experience and transcendence make an experiential provoke thoughts emotions with our body action. During this pandemic period, it is become difficult to have intimate and close interaction with our audiences and thus making it difficult to make it physically experiential. I feel there is still a potential of transforming through online interaction and make it experiential work although it is difficult but not impossible. The approach to this transformative act will change a bit for an online audience. The Pandemic has forced people to cut out from social gatherings and spaces, having an adverse effect on the psychology of human beings. We being a social animal it is vital to have to connect the outer world get support both morally and Psychological during this difficult time. For this project, my idea is to bring in the divine element in the central perspective which is cathartic healing and transforming.

Many pre-pandemic works have been one-to-one interactive performance work share ritual and shamanistic practice with my audiences. I have done several experiments in the whole of 2020 with online performance with this experience I have a grasp-in bringing experiential elements through my ritual acts. I have done several performance interventions responding reacting and contemplating the immediate situation encountered both psychologically and philosophically. Finding contemplating space within these territories of everyday rituals transcend both physical and mental space by finding deeper meaning in the ritual act of filtering both conscious and subconscious mind.

I come from Jain and Hindu family that follow several rituals to introspect within us and find the divinity within us for much peace and healing. These rituals are engrossing in the act and Cathartic and healing in nature, even if one who watches it can enter that state. I metaphorically use the same philosophy to see doing Ritual act transforming the space and time and beyond. I usually build my workspace for each performance to enhance and make it more engaging and experiential to attain that particular state for my audience.

For this performance Also I built my own space which created an ambiance for contemplation. it was an attempt a performative intervention that brought varied layers in these spaces of folding and unfolding both Conscious and subconscious states of mind. it was a sound-based performative work for a 15 minutes online performance.

With New normal people are persistently spending most of the time in virtual spaces, Losing contact with oneself by which forget to find divinity within. We get lost excessively in information and online material of entertainment we lose touch with ourselves and my attempt through performance was to see the life and spirit within with a positive attitude and seeing Divinity within.

Dimple B Shah Jan 2021

A prayer for a Dead tree – The Scent of African tulip

 

3rd Global Be-Coming Tree online event
Performed on 9th Jan 2021

A prayer for a Dead tree – The Scent of African tulip

My heart is heavy, still cries for a dead tree sacrificed in front.

O! Big African tulip tree which was in front of my house.

Where cuckoos were singing bumblebees were murmuring had their home.

The Squirrels happily enjoyed jumping around from one branch to the other branch.

The monkeys, playing and happily stealing papaya from homes used to sit on branches and eat them.

The tree used to change colour and shed the leaves which were difficult to clean at a time. African tulip tree which I loved the utmost, was cut in front of me fear of falling one on of the house. Another African tulip tree next to this big tree had collapsed, due to heavy rain, that had created the fear in the minds of people who had home in front of it and they started working towards cut the tree one day!

O! Big African tulip the tree I miss you so much

The fire of your blooming flower sparks flame in my eyes

The remains of your body preserved in my home

The home of bumblebees is still with me empty deserted like ruined spaces.

O! Big African tulip tree

Nobody misses you they are happy that you made way for parking Lot,

I miss you

With my heavy heart, I offer you prayer s

Prayer to meet you in my next Life

I offer prayers to thank you for giving a stupendous memory to remember spirit.

I send prayer through the wind,

I offer you the scent which you gave it to me once

O! Big African tree I Miss you so much

Poem by -Dimple B Shah 17th Dec 2020 

 

Breathing Future- Crossover 2020-2021

Crossover 2020-2021 全球跨越 2020-2021 

Performed on 6th January 2021  Live Zoom Performance 

Indian female artist Dimple B Shah, dressed in a white lab coat, was conducting scientific research by holding a magnifying glass. In the white gauze cloud surrounded by layers, she blows white balloons one by one (the balloon shows the word "Extinction"), Blowing, squeezing, kinking, deforming, some swelling and exploding, some half-way frustrated with a desperate cry, and some make an unbearable cry of heart-cracking, and finally a warning appears The red balloon expanded, the warning lights flashed, and the red crisis filled the entire space, as if the universe was about to burst, suffocating people. .... Everything went back to zero, cows, sheep and plants appeared, and the only remaining human nature was stored in the closed and transparent Noah's Ark. At this time, amidst the mist-filled vast waste and almost invisible objects, a closed space capsule maintained the only remaining green plants, implying that human beings can only live in a closed environment with oxygen in the future. The situation set by the artist Shah, and the in-depth expression of human beings facing the plight, is intended to continuously arouse our current human thinking and concern about the future. 

Cai Qing Jan 9. 2021

印度女艺术家Dimple B Shah, 身着白色服装严然一个科研人员手持放大镜，在层层环绕的白纱云雾中，她一个接一个地吹着白色的气泡（气球上显出“毁灭”的字样），吹起、挤压，纽曲、变形，有的澎涨而暴炸，有的半路泄气发出绝望的呼声，更有发出令人不堪忍受的嘶心裂肺的叫声的，最终出现一个警示的红色气球，它渐渐大起来，警灯闪烁，危机涨满了整个空间，如同宇宙即将破裂，让人窒息。.....一切归零，出现牛、羊和植物，将人类仅存的自然存放入封闭透明的诺亚方舟。这时，在雾气弥漫，几乎看不见物象的苍茫的废虚上，一个封闭的空间胶囊中，维护着仅存的一点绿色的植物，寓意人类今后只能在封闭的环境中有氧可活。由艺术家Saha设置的局，和不断深入的，面对我们人类面临的困境的表达，意在不断地引起我们当下人类对未来的思考和关注。

Outside Frame -Natak Company

Lock Unlock Performance Art Project 11 

22. December 2020

Concept Note by Dagmar I. Glausnitzer-Smith

Glimpses behind Isolation

Visual material is assembled, collaged and controlled in these days of presentations via the virtual channels. The preparations regress to an intense aesthetic and composed image production. 

How can this be interrupted and directed towards another perspective, revealing details of ‘Self’ in the intimate sphere, which in any way stays hidden to the unrecognizable (zoom)spectator. Details, materials and objects which may have been captured before in physical, public space, now have been edited away from the site of Performance Activity.

How does the artist’s expectation level, these days influence the operating virtual eye?

Extended: Mieke Bal, The Mottled Screen: Reading Proust Visually, Marcel Proust, Optical Instruments, Stamford, 1997. chapter 5, p69 pp

“Even those who commended my perception of the truths which I wanted eventually engrave within the temple, congratulated me on having discovered them with a microscope’, when on the contrary it was a telescope that I used to observe things which were indeed very small to the naked eye, but only because they were situated at a great distance, and which were each one of them is itself a world.”

Yusufduradola

HectorCanonge

DagmarIGlausnitzerSmith

dimplebshah

InderSalim

Satadru Sovan

Mukesh Singh 

My work presented for this event was 

Outside Frame- Natak Company

For this Lock Unlock Series, In the last minute of the event, one artist could not perform, I took the opportunity to participate do the final performance for the year 2020. I started preparing in my mind while I was on the way home - first thing when I read Dagmar's Note first impressions were random things which we do outside the frame of zoom like backstage work which usually does not come in front while performing. I thought of bringing in on this core idea in my Performance work. Bring all my costumes, objects of performance, curtains, colourful cloths on the forefront. Unplanned I wanted it to be spontaneous of unlocking unpacking my materials live and spontaneously working out with it. There were different jackets, wig, headgears, dolls, woollen rolls every few minutes I was changing my costume and headgears it was an attempt to bring alter-ego on the front row. I enjoyed the process and the outcome. I responded to Dagmar's concept aptly as per my perception chaotic backstage work, Original work behind the actual performance and for me that itself is kind of real performance work Brainstorming confused random and abstract trying to match the thinking for the creation of new work.

Dimple B Shah 22nd December 2020

Secret Colloquy

Be-Coming Tree

Be-coming Tree live art event via Zoom


Online event 31st Oct 2020

This performance is about the relationship between me and the plant. As per science and Jain philosophy plants have one sense with which they feel the emotion and react like if you play a song they enjoy and flourish. I want to engage with the plant to have a secret conversation an offering of prayer to them.

Holy Basil (Tulsi sacred Plant is my Special Plant) 

Basil is viewed as a living gateway (Threshold between heaven and earth, and regarded as the manifestation of the divine within the plant kingdom. 

I have learnt if one observe and contemplate with a humble plant which has the healing aroma and medicinal properties imbibe the feminine energy internalize a manifestation of Goddess in the process.