Re-searching Gondwana by ChitAmbara
In 2022, I was invited to co-curate a residency to kickstart a project tentatively titled Re-searching Gondwana. This was mooted and spearheaded by members of ChitAmbara - Kamalesh Thurairajah, an engineer by profession, a passionate arts lover and producer, with Sidha Pandian, a scholar of indigenous studies, culture and practices. As I was totally ignorant of the history and or geological context of Gondwanaland, the first step was to acquire a fundamental understanding of Gondwana and how it resonated with this group of artists in Australia.
Gondwana or Gondwanaland refers to the land mass that covered planet Earth in ancient times. Over centuries the tectonic plates separated to become South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, Africa and more. By extension of this, it meant that the people who occupied these lands were connected and possibly shared beliefs and practices. The late Swamiji spoke about this in the early years of the establishment of SMV, and there is video footage of him speaking to the Aboriginal Elders in regarding the connections and links between India and Australia. As ever, through arts and service, Swamiji was instrumental in instigating collaboration and development of ideas, and potential projects. However, it took years for this particular project to come to fruition and it was finally, albeit tentatively, coming together.
Months of online discussions began late 2022 with Kamalesh, Sidha, Sukhi Shetty, dancer and principal of SMV, and Sharmila Kumar, a project-coordinator and manager who also trained in dance and music in her growing years. The discussions were intense but also often light-hearted. It was an opportunity for me to get to know my collaborators better. I was the outsider and not privileged to common experiences and memories of the Shiva family, as the devotees of Swamiji are collectively known. The conversations kept returning to the idea of clean slates, and “not knowing”. The overarching intention for the project was to be process-driven and create a flexible structure that allowed for the flow of ideas.
I looked forward to experiencing the in-person Gondwana Residency in Kuala Lumpur in August 2022. The plan was for a group of artists from diverse cultures to come together without an end product in mind, but to be inspired by new ideas and possible artistic explorations cultivated and curated through specific tasks. Both Kamal and Sidha were working towards unlocking and unleashing creativity through trust and openness.
Gondwanaland gradually drifted apart and this phenomenon was a perfect metaphor for the state-of-separation between our minds and bodies in the 21st century, and a great point of embarkation for the project. Humankind lived together in communities and or as part of extended families but with urbanization, mechanization, individualism, and materialism, we have grown apart physically, mentally, and emotionally. In 2022, this was further exacerbated when the Covid-19 pandemic drove us into extreme isolation and alienation. This affected and impacted our lives in unimaginable ways, and resulted in heightened levels of loneliness, anxiety and stress. Thus, Re-searching Gondwana, became an apt title for the quest to unite our fragmented lives, locate commonalities and find artistic inspiration and expression.
Participants in program were primarily from TFA and SMV who spent 8 hours each day visiting places of worship and relevance around Kuala Lumpur besides studio discussions and practice. The activities led by different artists were framed around the elements of earth, fire, water, and inspired by ancestral texts from the histories of the participating cultures. We visited the Batu Caves Temple, where the dancers trained in classical dance burst forth into unrehearsed dance sequences that connected with the holy site, and the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Kuala Lumpur. The team also visited Pulau Carey and engaged with the Mah Meri Orang Asli people in Selangor. There were many wondrous moments during these field trips that included casual conversations, and a moment where Hindu priest from Malaysia connected with Daniel Wilfred, an Indigenous Ceremonial Leader from the Wagilak Yolngu community in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia, who was part of this residency project. Recognising a special presence, Daniel was befittingly honoured.
Daniel Wilfred blew me away. It was my first experience being up close and personal with an Elder. His presence was strong, and he was central to the residency. As an Aboriginal Elder he has remained authentic and unspoiled by external influences. His deep sense of the land and natural phenomena were powerful. He shared the songs and dreams of his people which led the residency to think beyond form and embrace the “soul or spirit” of the arts. Art became multidimensional, therapeutic, social, multitemporal, and organic.
In one session, the residency explored “Ulik Mayang”, a traditional song from Kelantan, Malaysia that I love and have listened to many times. The haunting lyrics and melody include the following:
The soul of the
fisherman was abducted by sea princesses and he loses his ‘inner energy’ which
has to be restored. A battle ensues between the shaman and the 6 Princesses.
Let those from the sea, return to the sea, and those from the land, return to
the land.
Mohd
Hisharudy, a graduate in traditional music from ASWARA played the rebab, the
3-stringed lute and his invocation of this tune accompanied with Sukhi Shetty’s
interpretation of a story from Mother Ganga’s (river Ganges) was introspective,
meditative, delicate yet powerful. Hariram Tingyuan Lam, who led the music ensemble,
supported the exploration of movement vocabulary with music, vocals, soundscapes
and narrative. At the same time, this choreographic segment provoked questions
about the functions of rituals, and its performativity. This vignette was an
unintended artistic outcome where the commonalities of cultures gelled. It was
cohesive with movement vocabulary that evolved organically and had potential to
be developed with further in-depth exploration. One other section of content-sharing
was the exploration by Olivier Tarpaga, an artist, musician, dancer and
choreographer from Burkina Faso and the United States of America. He worked
with dancers Rohini Shetty, Kishore Krishnan, Aarti Param, and Dhanya
Thurairajah. This work drew from conventional contemporary dance vocabulary and
was beautifully danced. It too had potential to be developed further, although
it seemed to have emerged from the established practices of the choreographer,
and not directly drawing from or responding to what evolved from the residency.
Re-searching Gondwana KL Residency utube.com/watch?v=Zu3VIS6ejus
As with any program, there is room for improvement and opportunities for enhancement. As an example, Floeur Alder, a contemporary dance artist from Australia with extensive experience working with indigenous communities, was only able to join the residency briefly, and thus the participants were unable to fully benefit from her dance-making and improvisation strategies. Further, improved communication between the curators, and with the participants would have provided greater clarity, and more background information for the participants, as well as the audience who attended the final showing. I felt that a project such as this should have been made accessible to more Malaysian dance artists especially those from other organizations, institutions, and companies. It would have been a great learning and unifying opportunity for all.
Finally, my own take-aways and personal reflection was that the residency was a call to be home, not literally, but to be home in mind and body, to understand how the past has shaped me, but also a reminder not to be constrained by it but allow myself the freedom to be fully in the present moment. The strongest sense was that of sharing – space, time, knowledge, stories and love. I felt awakened and that time seemed to merge - past, present and the future. However, it was as if the only moment that mattered was the here and now. I draw from every experience to enrich myself as a human being and an artist(-ish) and loved the time spent with the other participants. I will cherish the deep connections formed and the learning opportunities that came with this residency. Congratulations to ChitAmbara on their immense effort in producing their first ever residency and for choosing to do something very different and exploratory. Branching into new spaces and places is never easy. I look forward to the future journey of this project and hope to participate in more such experiences with ChitAmbara.
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