Category: India
-
Nostalgic bricks
It is amazing that precisely the work of one of the youngest participants of the Kochi Biennale 2014 evokes memories, images and emotions in me of the Kerala that I know of 40 years ago. Unnikrishnan C, born in 1991 in a family of basket weavers in Kerala, started painting the bricks of his parental…
-
Through the looking glass
Up close: Light-rimmed, dark faces, all similar, each one different. Made by the artist out of paper pulp, rice paper, acrylic and art powder colour. With their wide open mouths they look startled, scared; but – according to the Exhibition Guide – they are initiates singing at their first holy communion. Two steps back: From…
-
I am eyeye
I like eyeye. It is one of the words coined by Aram Saroyan that were written on walls at the Kochi Biennale. One eye overlapping a second eye, like in the vision through our own pair of eyes which enables us to see the world. I like lighght. To see, we need light in our…
-
Global dust
One of the attractions for me to revisit Kerala after many, many years, was the international modern art biennale in Kochi of which the second edition took place in 2014/15. Another attraction was the International Film Festival of Kerala which, in 2014, was organized already for the 19th time in the State capital. My good old…
-
Spinning progress
Seen from the sky Kerala seems to be inhabited only by palm trees. People and houses are invisible. Still there are many millions of them, hidden underneath the green cover of palm leaves. So it is not surprising that since a long time processing of coir – the fibrous outer husk of the coconut –…
-
Hier Rust …
My own connection with Kerala fits in a long tradition. Dutch compatriots have been coming to its coasts as sailors, traders and explorers of the Dutch East India Company since the middle of the 17th century. But they also had a number of military outposts and sort of ruled over the Malabar Coast till the…
-
Kerala revisited
When I think of Kerala, images of the early years of my life as filmmaker-anthropologist come to my mind. In the 70s and early 80s of last century my relationship with India was concentrated on Kerala. Spread over frequent visits I must have stayed there at least one year if not more. And although I have…
-
Lingam novelty
Can an old dismantled water pump and the drainage space around it be regarded as a lingam and yoni? A certain resemblance cannot be denied. The person who has placed the tiny flower in the middle of the pump plate has nicely made his point. For the last 8 weeks I have taken you on a…
-
In all shapes and sizes
The creative presence of Shiva can be felt anywhere in nature, not just in the temples and shrines dedicated to him. A rock can inspire to cut a relief of a lingam and yoni as we see in the photo above, complete with worshipping devotees on both sides. Any smooth natural stone can become a…
-
Lingam cult
The lingam and yoni is worshipped in thousands of temples and shrines dedicated to Shiva all over India. Devotees come, present flowers and other offerings, do puja, pray and go. Sometimes they bath the lingam in milk, rub it with ashes and other ingredients, pour water over it, load it with flowers and leaves, while…
καιρός remembered 