picking up the pieces

I'm back in Kolkata and back at Khoj, just for a week. Abhida said I could have my old room back and I have to say it is a little like coming home. Tamal, Tapan, Kaushik, Abhi and Smriti were here waiting for me with a cold beer, a delicious meal and a warm welcome.

I walked up to Rashbehari yesterday and bought a few supplies, some fruit, bread, milk. So easy.

Stains on my Chintz closes on Wednesday, after having had a lot of people through the show over the last seven weeks. I have to sort out some freight issues and coming here myself was the easier option than trying to do things by email and phone. It will also be some time before I can jump on a plane and be here in under four hours. Sydney seems like a long way away.

It is so nice to be back at Khoj, though I miss Teresa not being here. This is something she made while working for the Chintz show. Two beautiful woven pieces made up from the offcuts of her large wall installation 'Language Curling in on Itself'. Teresa's weavings are a lovely reminder of the days we worked here in the studio.

The Harrington Street Arts Centre has posted images from the show, and I have attached a link here. It's a little clunky but worth looking through the work and Paula's essay.

http://www.hstreetartscentre.com/Exhibitions/Current.aspx?EvtId=989cfae5-5534-4805-9336-fd00b9adf98e

tiger trace and time to go

Today is the last day of my residency and I've been sitting at the computer most of the morning. The doorbell has been busy. One person called to see if I was interested in a portable gas stove cooking demonstration, a man from the water company downstairs came to collect the empty bottle, and someone else came looking for a Khoj person. I managed 'no thank you', 'it's here' and 'come back at three' ... in Hindi.

I haven't told anything of the Sunderbans trip as yet and I have some photos I'd like to share, so I will add some more posts post-Kolkata. However, here is one of my favourite images.

One morning in the Sunderbans, we came across some tiger pug marks. Sambhu said they were very fresh, probably from early that morning. They emerged out of the water, across the mud and disappeared into the mangrove forest. This tiger had swum across from one island to the other, most likely in search of food, a distance of about 1 kilometre. Just a trace.

It's my last day, and there is still more to write. And much more to think about. It has been an amazing experience, or rather an accumulation of experiences, that I'm sure I'll carry with me for a long time. I farewell some good friends and look forward to meeting them again. I will return in late January to finalise and install the work for the exhibition at Harrington Arts Centre.

A huge thank you to Khoj for hosting my residency, for their generosity and in making me feel so at home here. It has been great to share many things, especially all the fantastic meals we've eaten together. I can't recall how many conversations I've had with my friends about food and cooking. At the end of the day, friends, family and food is what sustains us all. I'm very glad to have been included in theirs. Special thanks to Abhida, Smriti, Bhutu, Kaushik, Paula, Chhatra, Tamal, Kazima and Sayak.

JOY MA!

khoj songfest

Dinner and drinks after my presentation, back at Khoj. Any gathering eventually ends up with singing ... and this began with the national anthem (hence they are standing ... Oindrilla, Prabhat, Chhatra, Saikat, Tamal, Abhida, Kaushik).

As part of the Khoj residency tradition, I was requested to sing something. Blankness gave way to one feeble verse of that fine drinking song ... Nico's After Hours. My Bengali friends love to sing and have an incredible wealth of songs, from traditional to Tagore. They also have beautiful voices.

khoj kolkata

Here are the Khoj Kolkata folk.

Chhatrapati Dutta, Paula Sengupta, Abhijit Gupta, Tamal Mitra, Saikat Surai, Kaushik Chakraborty (l-r).

(Pooja Sood, on far left was visiting from Khoj in Delhi)

khoj kolkata

Khoj Kolkata is hosting my residency here. It is a small and very lively group of artists, writers and academics who develop and facilitate a whole range of projects, residencies, workshops and exhibitions. While they do have an international residency program, their focus also lies closer to home in some challenging projects with communities in Kolkata and West Bengal.

The project I am working on over the coming weeks will be included in an exhibition curated by Dr Paula Sengupta, one of the founders of Khoj Kolkata, artist, writer, lecturer and curator. I also want to acknowledge here Abhijit Gupta who is really the backbone of the organisation. He too has many hats ... artist, designer, project manager, meeter and greeter and general problem solver for resident artists like me. My thanks to both Paula and Abhida for their support and assistance.

Here's the Khoj Kolkata website ... www.khojkolkata.org ... read more.