The World is experiencing a moment of stand-still during the events of Covid-19 pandemic. Surely it is affecting each one of us in many different ways. To some this means fear and uncertainty about the future, economic difficulties, to others – inspiration and time to create. This period brings ideas into surface, raises questions and debates about our healthcare and economic systems, ecological, political and social issues.
This is a series of posts featuring creative expressions made during Covid-19 pandemic, or previous works that are particularly relevant during these times of change.
Today we are share a performance piece by Smiha Kapoor, Indian artist, currently based in Singapore, where she is studying fine arts in Lasalle College Of the Arts.
“I employ the use of an installation performance ritual to comment on the nature of this destruction and disconnect, and how it has in-turn played a role in paradoxically destroying the human life itself. The piece highlights the horrors of the Covid-19 pandemic, instigated by an imbalance in the ecosystem by us humans. The work starts by exploring the suffocation and the helplessness caused due to the quarantine and comments further on the notions of ‘home’ and human existence. Using the concept of ‘paradox’ between life and death, strength and vulnerability, connection and disconnection, the work is intended to awaken a deeper awareness into our own actions and rekindle our moral sense of responsibility towards a conscious and more compassionate life.”
“As a spiritually inclined individual, I view all existence through an innate sense of oneness. We’re a witness to the growing suffering of human existence in this age of technology. We’re also witnessing a time of blatant destruction of the natural world by the hands of humans. The need of the hour compels me to permeate deeper into remembering our all-prevailing connection with our natural environment and most essential, our own self. This has been the focus of my artistic intervention.
I revisit the sacred knowledge of connection in an attempt to understand the wounds of human existence more intimately and embark upon the process of taking responsibility of healing and raising awareness through my work.
I employ performance as my core medium for its potential to create direct and intimate connection with my work process and my audience. We understand connection through our physicality and so, I believe, it is through the same we hold to potential to remember our true and reawaken.
I’m often influenced with religious philosophies, traditions and ritualistic practices, elements and spiritual inspirations of which I often weave into my work to give them a voice beyond their limited context to make them universal and permeable through art.”
–Smiha Kapoor
