Do you think that whispering sweet nothings in your loved one’s ears is mundane? Picture this: You suddenly meet someone on the road, who murmurs poetry in your ears. Curious as it may sound,
Les Souffleurs — Commandos Poétiques
(the whisperers) are coming to Bengaluru for the first time with their poetic secrets and surprise interventions. Nine artistes from the French collective are currently touring four cities in India with their unique project, called
Jaan.
So, what do they whisper? They will slowly recite select verses of poetry by Indian poets. Interestingly, the group comprises comedians, writers, dancers, theatrepersons and musicians. They usually pop up in public spaces and act through poetry and quiet choreographies. In India, they are enacting in four languages — English, Hindi, Urdu and Bengali. The artistes have previously performed in Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Hebrew, Portuguese, Turkish, Romanian and Japanese. The Bengaluru chapter is presented by Chennai-based arts collective,
Prakriti Foundation
, in collaboration with the
Institut français India
.
Describing it as a
flash mob
of poetry,
Meera Krishnan, of Prakriti, says, “It is a unique project that intends to make poetry more accessible in public places. This is mainly for common citizens who either do not have access to a library or are too confined in their day-to-day activities and can barely manage time to pick up a book to read.” The whisperers mainly perform via gestures, installations and writings. The artistes murmur poetic, philosophical and literary secrets in the passers-by’s ears with the intention “to create slowdowns into the beating heart of cities, restore the meaning behind each poetry verse and adopt a tender, benevolent and furtive gesture in common public spaces”.
“People tend to find opening poetry books much more difficult compared to novels or political texts. This allows the audience to discover a therapeutic literature through poetry. They can expect curiosity, discovery and lots of love. We whisper beyond castes and distinctions,” say the artistes, adding, “Through our silence and slow pace, along with the tumult of contemporary Indian society, we try to create a poetic counterpoint — the blaring horns vs the whispers. And somewhere the point between these horns and our whispers is where we find harmony,
jaan.”
In Bengaluru, they will perform at
Cubbon Park
, alternative art hubs, as well as co-working spaces from February 2 to 4.