Medium: Drawings on paper, Video Projection, Turmeric, Canvas, crude petrol bombs.
At Sarjan Art Gallery Varodra Gujrat

Such an issue was raised by Chintan Upadhyaya who stunned the critics, students and artist’s in Baroda with his bold performance titled ‘Baar Baar, Har Baar, Kitni Baar?’ clarifying his stance on the Gujarat riots. The performance was in continuation with the activities of an art workshop organized by Alekhya [ a new organisation promoting art formed in Baroda]. The venue for the performance was Sarjan Art Gallery in Baroda. Chintan’s work comprised of a few drawings, petrol blasted canvases, video projection and a nude body (artist himself). The twelve drawings were drawn on burnt hand made sheets. Many of these drawings had text over the phalli-centric images that was a critique on masculinity in riots. Some drawing had images of babies which represented the burnt womb of a pregnant woman. (Taken from a real case where communal pests slashed the womb of a pregnant woman and burnt the unborn child). Chintan had also burnt two large sized canvases using petrol bombs. The commonly used street weapon can turn extremely hazardous causing loss of several innocent lives and this dangerous feat was a spirited endeavor on Chintan’s part to make the performance incredibly authentic. These burnt canvases were displayed on the floor of the gallery as a part of the installation and the performance. The video shot in the wee hours of the morning in the presence of Julius Mcwan, Bhavna Kakar, Sudarshan Shetty, Kishu Chauhan and the artist was projected inside the gallery in loop reiterating the violent act of burning.

But what was shocking to the viewers was not the video or the drawings but Chintan himself who sat completely nude with his eyes closed and a container/patila filled with turmeric/haldi. The viewers were asked to participate by applying the haldi on Chintan’s body as a gesture of compassion, symbolically trying to empathize with the angst of all those who were victim of the riots. The audiences thronged the gallery; leading to a stampede of sorts and a volley of questions were raised to the artist post - performance. I had an exclusive tête-à-tête with Chintan where he talked about his recent installation and performance ‘Baar Baar, Har Baar, Kitni Baar?’ Here are some excerpts…

B. What is the idea behind this performance?
C. This performance is all about violence and riots especially the Godhra riots. The petrol bomb becomes a local tool, a weapon, which comes from mundane life and the whole act of burning a canvas becomes a mundane act. We usually see that after riots and violence there is a process of healing people. I wanted to do the performance long back in Baroda because its basically a very sensitive area, a very susceptible place for communal riots. I have been observing the one sided view of people who were completely pro- Modi and I wanted to do this in this city. People had a strong-headed idea about Narendra Modi and were very happy with what he’s done. This time when I came here I felt they have become more objective because they realised what they have lost in the whole process. This whole act of putting turmeric over an artist’s body is a kind of healing to the body. In the twelve images I have tried to create a connection with the riots directly but the interpretation was very subtle. There were babies drawn with charcoal and these babies were not in purely mature form, they look very eerie. I burned the sides of the paper so it gives the impression of a burned womb. There were cases when people actually did that in reality. I was concentrating more on this act of violence, how it becomes a part of our life and also creates a kind of violence in our mind. Simultaneously body and healing becomes a very important gesture to people and to the neighborhood.

B.Why was the turmeric used?
C. Telling people to put turmeric over my body had a reason. By doing this they also become a part of the artwork, a kind of participators. Simultaneously they become a part of the whole experience as they are now. Not everyone was required or asked to apply haldi/turmeric, it was a voluntary action on their part. Choose your action, how you want to see your own city, your own environment, your own neighborhood? This was what i wanted to convey. It’s a cycle almost like a loop of a video of the burning canvas with petrol bombs. Throwing petrol bombs itself becomes a very important gesture, it’s a violent act and the created burnt marks on the canvas look very violent. So violence and healing become very important and it happens in a cycle again and again. How many times does a common man go through the same torture and pain repeatedly? In this technologically developed country we are still into this whole communal thing. I was indicating permanent threat and healing through this performance and the emphasis was on the gesture.

B. Were you trying to take political sides and asserting your stance towards the Godra riots?
C. It is a reaction to the riots and we all have political positions in a sense. My only concern as an artist is not just the violence that is happening in India or Gujarat, but the kind of violence, which is happening everywhere. We all have experienced certain things in Gujarat, through the television and print media.B. The effect is still there…C. Yes it is very much there. Mentally it is still there on the people who are insecure about things. It effects the environment directly, also affecting the upbringing. My whole idea was to create a work that generates awareness towards the environment and that is why the body becomes very important, especially the artist’s body.

B. Have you ever been physically present during a riot or bombing?
C. No…

B. Do you take a stance against Modi in this issue?
C. Yes in a way I do. And why only Modi there are other such political elements that create disharmony and unrest in the society. I am talking not just about him but about all the forces that create communal differences. Ultimately not just political forces but people were also involved in the whole thing. There could be a difference of opinion here because I remember I was here and people were saying that whatever happened was good and Modi was right on his side, he did the right thing. We are not looking for violence but for harmony and peace. The matter could be anybody, we all know who is right and wrong.

B. Since when have you had the idea of this performance in your mind?
C. After the Godhra event I had conceptualized two projects and one of them was with matchboxes. When I came here I realized that it is not the right time to do that yet. People were totally one sided in their opinion and were not receptive enough at that point of time. I spoke to many people and they were not ready to communicate and listen or even argue about the whole issue. One can see in the election results post Godhra what the people of Gujarat thought. You can see certain things in that.

B. What kind of things?
C. Ultimately there were huge lapses. Godhra could have been generated by anybody but the body responsible for controlling the violence is the government but instead of controlling they started propagating it. Not only defending they also started giving them power and also leant a helping hand. But my whole question is to people about what they think of the neighborhood. Simply that! The government and politics have always existed.


B. The whole gesture of people coming and applying haldi was about trying to make people understand this. Do you think this point came across clearly to them?
C. I was more interested in the gesture than in the narration. I didn’t want to probe into what they feel about Modi and the riots but how they feel about themselves. That is why I did not use any mainstream image to show what I wanted to say. No stills. No news footage. I want to see art from another dimension. I don’t want to enter the mainstream politics of art. The same incident could have been in Israel or America. The ultimate effect is similar.


B. Why the idea of sitting nude? The same performance could have been done with clothes on?
C. It was basically an idea about the body. About how people actually see body at that time and how they react to it. There were cases during the riots where people were stripped naked and burnt and women were raped. Though my intention was not to draw attention towards that but to observe how a human body is perceived by the masses. Why we perpetuate the body in a certain way. The idea was not nude but naked. Simultaneously it was the naked truth. More gestural than literal.

B. Did it make you feel embarrassed in any way?
C. No, It is my work and why should I feel embarrassment for my work. Infact I am happy that I could break the boundaries of our hypocritic system and institutions.