|
|
Abol Tabol: An Installation
For the child or for
primitive man, no distinctions exist between the actual and the fantastic. So if you can believe in the actual
elephant, there is no reason why you cannot believe in a creature that is half human and half elephant. The conspicuous
and abrupt changes of metamorphosis and evolution contribute to the conception of and desire for an unstable magical
world where there is no difference between the self and other, between the subjective world and the objective and
no obstacles to the wish for the physiognomical or characteristics of the 'other.'
In the poem "Khichuri" Sukumar Ray claims he defies the grammarian to create his world of beasts, birds,
insects and amphibians combining with each other to create such non-actual beings. The world of grammar is the
reverse of this magical world: it is unambiguous, tautological, well-ordered and perhaps necessary. Nidhi Jalan,
as an adult Kolkatan but not a Bengali, came to his Abol Tabol from Sukanta Chaudhuri's excellent translation,
and was instantly enchanted. It reinforced the penchant for metamorphosis and entropy that have dominated her work
for some time now.
Her multi-media installation builds on memories and nostalgia of Kolkata's most favourite childhood reading. By
combining some of Sukumar Ray's gently satiric creations and some of her own with human forms and with the medley
of Kolkata sounds that is an integral part of the work, Nidhi Jalan's current work adds new dimensions to the original
by making intriguing and subversive variations. The octopus at the centre, spreading its tentacles in all directions,
induces reactions that are sometimes playful, sometimes disturbing. Does it control the creatures or does it merely
guide them and us out of preconceived notions and social and cultural taboos, out of the past and into a new present
that is darker or more illuminating, depending on how you view it?
- Prof. Sajni Mukherji
View the video: High Resolution | Low
Resolution. |
