An act that blends art with human emotions

The wound is the place where the light enters you — one of Rumi’s well-known quotes finds a new manifestation in Bengaluru’s artscape. A blend of sorts that merges the craft of masks with that of Japan’s Kintsukuroi — a procedure in which broken ceramics are repaired using special lacquer that comprises gold, silver or platinum. Conceptualized and curated by artistes Asha Ponikiewska and Anand Dhanakoti, a recently held performance in the city, titled Kintsugi, aimed at delving into the human psyche, in a bid to understand the experiences that affect and transform people.
“At different points in life, we have to go through overpowering experiences that may make us feeling sad, shameful, guilty or melancholic for long period of time. Although not very apparent in all cases, such experiences do break us a little or leave a scar in our psyche. Through the performance, we are trying to examine people’s ability to count upon themselves while dealing with such unpleasant memories. For this, we have tried to merge the philosophy behind the Japanese ‘golden repair’ art form, which tries to identify the history of the object and mend the broken parts, keeping the marks visible. And in the process, adds a new dimension to the object making it look more beautiful than the original — just like adding a new perspective to life and making one a better person,” explains Asha, who is a movement artist of Polish origin.
The act, according to Asha, is a curious amalgamation of props like the Chhau masks and various Bharatnatyam mudras that aims to foster human communication and empathy.
Artiste Nakula Somana, who facilitated the act, describes it as an artistic reflection of the current state of affairs — the happenings that stir our thoughts and impact the manner in which we approach and evaluate an experience. “What is broken, is not necessarily ugly. It’s all about how one reflects on and handles various life situations,” says Nakula. The performance formed part of the Kha Foundation’s FoCoCo III presentation.