For the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival—
All Ties Back
The Brief
Dhaaga
The theme for the 2020 edition of the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival was dhaaga, or thread, symbolizing unity and inclusiveness. “It is the connecting force which stitches together diverse cultures, stories, and experiences.”
The Interpretation
All Ties Back
There are very few places on earth left untouched by toxic anthropogenic waste. For decades we have thoughtlessly ravaged our atmosphere, land, and oceans. This negligence has led to the destruction of wildlife populations, vital ecosystems, and the delicate climatic balance that has nurtured the rise of our civilisation.
We belong to nature. It is not the other way around.
We were woven of its thread and will remain intricately linked to it both spiritually and physically for as long as we exist. Why is it not our foremost priority then to preserve it?
What we do to our planet, we do to ourselves. It all ties back in the end.
The Concept
The installation would be prepared from discarded plastics collected along Mumbai’s coast. These plastics would be suspended so that they formed a fish when viewed from a certain angle and a portrait of a human when viewed from another.
The Purpose
To encourage passersby to reflect upon two connections—the impact of their choices and actions upon our environment, and the outcome of a distressed environment for us as a species.
Journey
The
Plastics were collected at three beaches in Malad—
Marve, Aksa, and Dana Pani.
Packaging of household brands was not an uncommon sight.
Once sorted by usability, the plastics were washed and soaked in a disinfectant solution.
Plastic bags and bottle caps were processed to form pixels of roughly the same size.
Kat, demonstrating the same curiosity with which wildlife might approach marine plastics.
Assembly was a game of numbers and intense concentration.
Installation
The
Concept and design by Linda Fernandes