Thirst/Trishna
Shown at: ‘Thirst: In Search of Freshwater’ , Wellcome Collection, London (2025)
Multi Screen Video Installation,Wallpaper and Augmented Reality
what comes first, the thirst for water, the presence of its absence, or the memory of its taste?
Moving through step-wells in desert landscapes, fragments of stories about longing, and the vast, invisible reservoirs of water in deep space. Trishna / Thirst reflects on the arid absence of the humid; negative moisture, a dryness of the body, and the soul.
The work invites viewers into a space where thirst becomes more than need, it becomes a question, a memory, and a trace of desire carried across time.
Video Installation with screens, Video Wallpaper
Na-Bam unfolds as meditation on water, depth, and the impossibility of measure. Presented as a six-screen video installation with video wallpaper, the work moves through shifting landscapes of land, river, sea, and forest—charting the imprints of thirst, flood, and memory.
Fishermen describe ‘na-bam‘ as places where the bamboo measuring stick ‘bam’ fails to touch the bottom, where depth of the water cannot be gauged. Raqs brings this phrase into focus, not just as a description of depth, but as a way of thinking: how do we ascertain what exceeds our grasp? What happens when there is both too much and not enough, when floods overwhelm, yet thirst remains?
Step-wells hold the memory of scarcity. Forests and farms mourn the excess. River-goddesses, once storytellers of rhythm and renewal, stand witness to new, unstable cycles. Na-Bam dwells in these contradictions: sacred and profane. It invites viewers into a space where the usual measures fall short, and where water becomes both presence and absence—felt, remembered, and yet measures without measure.
Iterations shown at: Khoj Studios, New Delhi (2024) | Le Commun, Geneva (2024)
Sometimes Farther Than the Sun
Augmented reality on iPad, vinyl, paint
2000x3800mm, 2000x2965mm
