A flutter in time
Sunday, November 5, 2023 at 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM
National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian, Washington, DC
Dancers & Musicians
Spilling Ink
In this performance project, a flutter in time, the artists contemplated ideas of time and space. As a vast canvas, space—whether it is called atman, brahman, truth, or even Shiva or Buddha—promises the transformation of the material. When there is a pulse in this infinite canvas, which could be a slight flutter, empirical time begins. The stir on the canvas can be likened to the activation of Shakti, the bindu, and Shiva, the space. The resulting energy is the manifest, which with time, generates movement, thereby implying direction. Played across four different galleries, the performance echoed the understanding that time and space do not exist in isolation of each other, live soundscape resonated, incorporating elements of sacred chanting and poetic verse. A flutter in time was a collaborative genesis by Nalini Prakash, Ramya Kapadia and Vijay Palaparty, including music by Pranav Diwakar, with poetry selections by Satya Palaparty.
This movement and sound project played across 4 galleries in the Smithsonian Museum of Asian Art. The first gallery was in the art of Knowing, the concept of embodied knowledge of where we are. The dancers performed the piece around the idea of Garuda, an eagle and yogini sculpture. Yoginis are the embodiment of meditation and knowing. From this phase, the performance moved to a gallery showcasing Japanese screen paintings, known as Byōbu. The piece performed here was centered around the idea of sound and seeing versus not seeing. The presentation began with the sound of a flute outside the gallery, invoking the audience's auditory senses before viewing any visual stimuli. This merging of visual and sound echoed themes of birth and death, highlighting what is disappearing and what remains. From these ideas, the dancers move to a new gallery, focusing on a piece in the art of the Islamic world. At the center of this piece is a Candelabra, serving as inspiration and relating to the theme of Diwali, the festival of lights for which this project was done. A solo was performed to Italian music and a poem was read in accompaniment. The overall performance ended with the idea of words of wisdom. The entire project was done with no accompanying music, only organic sound through chanting, singing and drum playing.
Galleries
Presented in collaboration with the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art