Layers of memories through an artist's eye

Capturing memories is not easy. But French artist Beatrice de Fays has attempted just that in Hyderabad with her exhibition called Nomads of Memory. The exhibition is part art works and part installation where the images collected by Beatrice are projected on the screen. And it is an interactive interface of art.
Visitors part of interactive installation
At a German centre in the city, as you move around in the auditorium, the dark screen comes alive with memories of the city .You see the body shape containing the façade of Charminar, its alleys blending into a fiery red light. The slow motion of the body shape is then filled with gurgling water and blue flower-beds. All this is infused with soft music and the notes change according to body movement. "The visitor becomes a part of the installation and through multimedia projections and sounds blended with his own body movements his own art is created," says Beatrice or B2Fays as she likes to be called.
The 54-year-old artist from Paris has visited many cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Puducherry etc., but it's Hyderabad she loves the most. "I find the city unique. You see layers of stories buried here.You can listen to the tales while you take a stroll in its alleys," she says with a glint in her eyes.
The layers of memories in paintings
It is a multi-centre installation that Beatrice has done. At a gallery in Banjara Hills, her memories of the city are etched out in a mix of oil, acrylic and inks. In one of the paintings, the rickshawwallah turns into a blue haze marked with curved lines. "It's a common sight in the city to see rickshaw pullers. But in the painting, I have tried to show how he's entering into his own memories which are different from real life," says the artist.
The visitors perceive everything as registered through her memories. A lots of Indian stamps of factories and enterprises on her can vases give the paintings 'an Indianised feel.' On watching closely one can see layers of paints stripped and rising like waves. " All of us carry memories. Some remain some fade. I have tried to capture them. To show faded memories, I even wash my canvas in the washing machine and paint again on the stained canvas. That's how our minds function. Memories are rewritten every time you perceive a sight or a smell," she says. Her exhibition is on view till January 21
Memories in suitcases
At the French cultural centre, it is a different version of her memories that are in evidence. Open suitcases out of which spill paintings. "This signifies my journey to different places. I have used multimedia projections to showcase how memories flow out of mind. In Hyderabad, I see layers of ethnicity which I tried incorporating in my work,'' Beatrice says. She signs off, "I have tried connecting my memories of France, India and Germany together. That's why I have showcased my exhibition in centres related to these three countries. This is a collection of my layered memories. I want to add more to it by travelling to eastern part of India."