[Reader-list] Art, Electricity, Rhythm, the Self: Projects by Pad.ma Fellows

[rohitrellan at aol.in]

Art, Electricity, Rhythm, the Self: Part One of projects by Pad.ma Fellows



In 2013 Pad.ma gave out 18 fellowships: half for experimental video practices and the other half for cinema and film studies (now resident on indiancine.ma). Over the next few months we will be publishing this work online. In this first update are four of the video projects, with essays written by Pad.ma fellows in a new "Texts" section with video annotations, that collects new kinds of writing provoked by the archive.

What are the Rhythms of Work and Leisure? 
by Anushka Meenakshi and Ishwar Srikumar

U-ra-mi-li or song of the people is an archival project that looks at the sounds, songs and rhythms of work and leisure. Anushka Meenakshi, a filmmaker and Ishwar Srikumar, a theater actor set out on a journey from Chennai that meandered through Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Mizoram. What began as travel and adventure and escape changed in a moment in Tabo, Spiti where they observed and recorded a group of farmers and women breaking mounds of soil in the fields and working. “The collective energy, the strong lines, the dance-like footwork, the hypnotic swing of the shovel, the song - and here it was, happening in something so 'everyday' and by a group of 'regular people'.” Work has many rhythms and cadences from the singing by the kalaakar in Rajasthan, the guitarist practicing with newspaper headlines in Manipur, to the 'dance' of large herds of cattle and animals in Spiti that returned to their homes without a single human in sight. 
Bruce Chatwin in his book 'Songlines' about aboriginal song, rhythm and nomadic travel speaks of those with “wanderer in the soul”, and in this project's 94 pieces of video, long and short, are the musings and wonder of two wanderers through their journey. (Essay here)


Future Power Plants in Chhattisgarh: a Documentary Film Treatment
by Sunil Kumar

Sunil Kumar is a social researcher and a fan of Iranian cinema. With these impulses, he began a project with friends in Chattisgarh, trying to make a film in two districts: Janjgir-Champa and Korba, where 29 new power plants are coming up. The effects of this rampant energy speculation extend to the rivers that are being serially barraged for water, to farming land that is taken over with little option for farmers but to migrate for work, to the huge quantities of ash that must be dumped from coal-burning power plants, invariably ending up downstream in the water and the ground. 
Sunil, who had never shot much video before, did most of the filming himself while walking from village to village, staying in people’s homes and talking to everyone he could find. The extensive video material he has shot is both unhurried and careful in tone. For his essay (in Hindi, here), he chose to use the form of a film treatment or script: a text that can be then heavily linked to material that has already been gathered, with more to come. This exercise has brought him very close to making the film, but also shows us the intermediate steps in their own light: how extensive documentary research can be done, and what images can flow from the walking of even one person carrying a camera and tripod. 

Scripts of Genders and Sexualities
by Sunil Mohan and Sumathi Murthy

On 11th December 2013 the Supreme Court of India overturned the High Court judgment that repealed the outdated law S.377 of the Indian Penal Code that declares unnatural sex and sodomy to be a crime. While waves of shock and disbelief sped through progressive circles and in media coverage, many queer lives and stories persisted in the hue and cry. Queer and trans people have lived in an atmosphere of acrimony, persecution and with an awareness of the uniqueness and triumph of their own stories. This collection of videos, shot largely in 2012, records some of the life-stories and self-reflections of queer and trans individuals across southern India. 

One FTM (female-to-male) person speaks of how he was discovered by the mother-in-law of his lover in the toilet and thrown out of the house by her. He says - “Ours, I mean - gender and sexuality people, are the real thrill and heroic actions, not those in movies. We are the real hero and heroine”. Smiley, a transwoman in Chennai and a fan of Bob Marley, speaks of how if she had been born a woman in her Dalit family then she would have been hastily married off. But as a trans person her journey has been different. Smiley says - “Even though I’m transgender and have to struggle in my life, I can be independent, make my own choices and choose my lifestyle. In that way, I’m happy” (https://pad.ma/DMW/player/). Two transwomen, Ponni and Anjali, run a dance school in the Tsunami Quarters in Chennai which is largely attended by children of lower caste communities. The essay (here) is a profound insight into what queer lives are about, their trials and joys, their humour and deep isolation. The videos have been shot in different parts of South India and painstakingly translated from Malayalam, Tamil, Telegu and Kannada. 

Bangalore Art Mileu
by Suresh Kumar Gopalreddy

Suresh Kumar is an artist and self appointed documentationist. With zealous energy, he has documented several of the lively years of the Bangalore art scene especially when collective groups and spaces were either just being formed or were active: Samuha, Jaaga, 1Shanthi Road and the government-owned Venkatappa Art Gallery . These videos are unique – Suresh appears in them often talking about how and why he wants to record the work and art of his peers. He questions the artists from behind the camera, comments and participates as a recorder and insider to the conversations that range from the politics of global art, local language and region, to the works of individual artists. 
All the artists in these videos have shared their work with a generosity and openness perhaps only found in these intimate gatherings of art makers, students of art, upcoming and experimenting artists, and a public of those interested in art in the years from 2010 to 2012 in Bangalore. Three different gatherings – Relook series of talks curated by Pushpamala, Intertalks and Ananya Drushya at Venkatappa Art Gallery are included in this series.

Pad.ma fellowships have been supported by Foundation for Arts Initiatives (FfAI) and the Bohen Foundation.

Older Essays available at
https://pad.ma/texts

News at 
https://pad.ma/news 

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