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Eco+Art Residency

‘…through 22kms…’

My attempt was to have people engage with the river of Delhi- the Yamuna, and also to come to terms and analyze through the visual my own relationship with the river and hence the city.

The residency started with a picnic to which people were invited at the river bank. As no one in Delhi actually picnics at the river,

it was a device to try and get people to engage with the river. People were expecting some kind of a performance but when told that this was only a picnic were at first disappointed but then enjoyed the refreshments and the river.

The residency also ended with a site visit where I was involved in a site specific work. This time as well we had arranged for refreshments and a boat ride which most people enjoyed.

The site chosen has been the site for my earlier perfomative works done over the past two years.

Between the two site visits which happened to be at one of the most picturesque spots on the river I attempted to further my engagement with the river by walking the length of the river i.e. 22kms that it passes through Delhi.

I walked from Palla village, the northern spot where the river enters Delhi for it sluggish run to Okhla Barrage, where it enters the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh.

It took me four days of walking around six hours a day.

The attempt was to walk along the water, to engage with the river as it flows through Delhi. The pictures and the text document my attempts and where I was forced to take the road or a boat, and where the city totally forgets the river.

The open day at KHOJ involved setting up an installation of the documentation [pictures] of the walk, through the pictures taken by me with some text for each day.

The installations, simulating my walk, led the viewer through the four days of my journey walking next to the river starting from the gate, as you entered the Khoj building, taking you along the corridors to the last room on the floor above, ending at the door of the toilet on the first floor.

The toilet had a live feed video focusing on the overflowing toilet pot and on the door projected on the wall outside. People could see themselves reacting to the work as they came out of the toilet [ no water was wasted as number of pumps were used to recycle the water].

“… through 22 kms …”

When did you last see the yamuna?

When did you last touch the yamuna ?

I walk

The Yamuna

The city

I walk

I walk………………

23 January

11.30

palla

northern border

delhi

delhi?

sand

and sand

space

mine

space

flow

the river

dunes

fields

young wheat

flowers

marigolds

mustard

saplings

fishermen

small boats

and little catch

large hearts and broad smiles

great hope

reflections

clear

air

water

clear

mining

sand

machines

across

the border

u.p.

sky

rested

the earth

the river

me?

Walk

Evening spread

Creeping water

Level

Abandoned

Fields

Hope

Shallow crossings

Deeper

I walk

Sun

Against

Water sucking

Eucalyptus

Evening

jagatpur

530pm

24 january

jagatpur

930am

labour

men women

fields

fog

birds

ferry across

touch

just

there

paths

across

through grass

marshes

wazirabad

breakfast lunch?

daal

on dung cakes

boat

across

sonia vihar

pipes

sucking

leaking

water

rest

tea

on the road

the barrage

no photo

no standing

no waiting

walk

sur ghat

wall

drain

gushes rushes

spills

the yamuna

stare

walk

to the road

down again

up again

millennium bridge?

peer baba

gurudwara

mandir

stink

madness

forgotten way

climb up

the road

down

the yamuna

access

denied.

again and again

every time

finish

the day’s walk

majnu ka tila

25 january 2007

1030am

tibetan market.

houses

their backs

to the yamuna

find a house

with its front

the yamuna

the poor farmers

the rag pickers

the forgotten

no further

a boat

slow pace

thick

water

black

still

birds

death

burning

dumping

wet

old railway bridge

noise

rickshaws

pontoon bridge

shanti van

flyover

construction

gulls

river

stopped

narrowed

access

denied

still

but birds

still slow

muck

and wash

fields

young wheat

still grows

mustard

flowers

some marigold

dumped

carrion

dogs fight

people sift

remains

distant

non worried

roads

traffic

noise

smoke

I.T.O.

security

identity

explanations

given

call it a day.

4.20pm

27 january

8.30am

no access

to the

yamuna

walk past

noise

power

station

the road

demolished basti

at the river

bank

jumping over

barbed wires

fog

surreal

paths

fly

ash

sinking

ground

inlets

sewage

two birds

black

water

the day

very foggy

somehow

reach

the river

through rubble

of homes

abandoned

walk

the day

low visibility.

no river

drain

mist

path

along

the river .

fly

fly- ash

fields

desolate

walk

abandoned

28 january

start again

the same place,

making our way

through fields

irrigated

sewage.u

nder

Nizamuddin

Bridge

Two beggars

sun

home

and up

to the road again

no way

to walk

to cross

the drain

up to

the road

dnd

tollway?

Ashram?

Slip

down again

plastic wages

scrap shops

river

not in sight

down again

winding path

flat

global village

under the DND

jamia

no access

navy training

area

the road again.

agra canal.

and the bird sanctuary

you

are not

allowed

inside[?]

jump over

wall

canal works

fencing

okhla barrage.

call it a day

330pm.