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Mahalaxmi-based performance space for experimental and independent arts, G5A is back with its annual cultural festival, Should Art. The three-week-long festival themed on ‘Boundary’ began on Friday with an immersive installation titled Textures of Sand by Ishan Benegal, artistic director of G5A.
“The idea began at the end of last year’s festival,” shared Benegal, adding, “With everything that’s happening globally and locally, we wanted to carve out an immersive piece of work that allows for a sense of grounding, connection and real reflection.”
He along with his team transformed that gallery’s black box into a desert-like space with real sand all around and water in the centre, offering an artistic play on mirage — a phenomenon where one thinks that they are seeing water in the desert.
“The idea was to create a different space using materials essential to everyday life like sand, water and light,” said Benegal. The light, in shades of red, blue and white, against the white curtains and a hemisphere-shaped structure attached to the roof in the centre, offered an interesting perspective of timelines, with blue giving the illusion of what desert might look like on a full moon night.
Although distorted, the voices and laughter in between made one think of people who might have lived in this space at some point. “We intentionally decided to have enough ambiguousness in the vocals so that you can hear it in your way, allowing one to interpret it as they want,” added Benegal.
Accompanying it is another immersive experience presenting fragrant ragas by Dr Kaustuv Kanti Ganguli, a postdoctoral associate at NYU Abu Dhabi, who has been researching in the field of computational musicology and music perception and cognition, at WIP Lab on the second floor. Both are available to experience till Sunday, after which a new set of events and performances will take over the space.
Talking about the theme of this edition, Anuradha Parikh, founder and artistic director of G5A, shared that the reason they picked boundary as a theme for this year is because there is so much conflict in the world which is based on boundaries. It was important for art to take a closer look at it and examine what it means for us, said Parikh, adding that through the festival they are looking at boundaries from various perspectives.
“In the first week, we are looking at boundaries from an individualistic point of view and therefore the installation allows for immersing ourselves and reflecting on the choices we make. In the second week, TM Krishna would look at the role that the artists play and the power they have. The third week would mark coming together as a community and looking at its role and responsibilities — do we help people come together and make important choices or do we live our lives in a bubble because we aren’t confronting what is happening around us,” wondered Parikh, adding, “at a time that’s busting with possibilities, we are annihilating those possibilities by creating boundaries and border”.
For full schedule, visit g5afoundation.org/calendar/
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