Root: An enquiry in to our own self identity
2019, Curator: Suresh K. Nair
Concept Note
Let me begin with a small anecdote: “can you bring our village to Varanasi?”
my father asked me while in Varanasi, recently. He was visiting me from Kerala
and was worried of the isolation, which he was experiencing psychologically.
Time and again he was feeling the loneliness to connect back to his roots,
desperate and concerned.
This incident had a strong impact on my mind and thus I started to think of the
Roots: how significant and essential it is to connect; with the self and others,
with the ecology and nature, with every living being on this planet and so
forth. Each one of us have ever thought about our own roots, both in terms of
physical and psychological. We have our own vernacular language, history,
tradition, food habit, belief, customs and rituals etc., that has continually
nurtured our persona, thought process and behavior and thus, our physical
displacements are overpowered by the or roots. We carry our own stories and
experiences from the root, wherever we go.
In a simpler way root is understood by the roots of trees, plants and that is the
source of acquiring water and minerals from soil. Thus, the metaphor of root
has been chosen for the project, which not only engages in connecting to its
soil but also becomes the one to choose the right mineral for its growth and so
is water. It’s a recent phenomenon that one comes across, has thrown open a
challenge to the humanity in for of shortage of usable water. The global
concern has been taken up by the experts to create awareness to save water
and use it wisely in various walks of life as much needed, storing the rest of it
for future use. People in rural and remote areas has been facing this on a daily
basis. Kustia village, which has not been much impacted by technology, and as
much I have travelled and spent time there as an artist, has enough
components to provide in order to take this project forward. Emphasis on the
roots, right from the religious texts to present practices, has been underlined
significantly.
Thus, in this edition, Roots and water (with specific significance) will drive the
minds of the artists to respond and create their works, as a part of direct
experience and/or probable opportunity, that Kustia village can offer, bringing
in the diverse thinking minds from all over the world and posing an inquiry into
their own identity.
Suresh K Nair
November 1, 2019
Varanasi, India
Participating Artists
Delwar Hossain
Shawon Akand
đđĄđđ°đ¨đ§ đđ¤đđ§đ (Bangladesh, 1976), is an artist, writer and curator based in Dhaka. Trained at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Dhaka University, Akand curâĻ see full profile
Nahad Ul Quasem
Shovon Zabir
Visual artist, Poet and c core member of CRACK team. I started my Journey with crack about a Decade ago. Apart from crack I am involved in variousâĻ see full profile
