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 'Inheritage' by Preethi Athreya - V.V. Ramani e-mail: ramanigaru@gmail.com February 14, 2023 'Nightgown' - the mere mention of this word brings with it varied feelings and emotions of experiences associated with the object. Exploring this connect with the nightgown, Preethi Athreya's short performance at Alliance Francaise in Chennai, was an engaging dialogue between an object and the artiste. The sensation of intimacy felt by the wearer, the texture, drape, and physical contours of the material as it caresses the body, arouses varied emotions at a personal level of experience. On the other end, lies the external voyeuristic gaze of onlookers to the body draped with a nightgown. This interweaving of ideas and emotions battling the internal and external turmoil, explored through subtle gestures and body movements, was a concise introduction to the artistic idea behind 'Inheritage,' a performance installation art by Preethi Athreya.   Each one of us develop a relationship with the objects inherited, collected or lost and when they are handled by the owners, they attain the status of belongings. "How can the act of looking, touching or holding objects be a way to 'read' them? Through the intimate acts of 'handling' we investigate hidden stories and gestures held in the objects and their relationship to place. "By tracing their journey into our lives, can we make a personal 'Archeology,' a speculative fiction, a story of objects not found in museums, but in our family homes that have written us into being," says Preeti. What began as written reflections on 13 objects of personal connection (with French translations by Dr Patricia Thery Hart) led to inspirations and explorations of movements, some of which were captured on film. The visuals, each with a QR code to reveal the story of each image and the film projection of her dance on the gallery walls, formed part of the performance, visual installation. Produced by Charcoal platform, it was presented in collaboration with Alliance Francaise, Prakriti Foundation, Camargo Foundation and Basement 21.' 'Inheritage' is at the nascent stage of experimentation of an interesting idea loaded with immense possibilities for future creative journeys. It would be a good idea to have a few of the actual objects seen in the photos as display exhibits for the onlooker to also get a tactile feel of it.  The team behind this show consisted of Praveen Kannanur - installation design support, Sharan Devkar Shankar - film, Paul Jacob - sound, Raymond Selvaraj - QR code design, Picture Productions - projection.  V.V. Ramani is a Chennai based multi-dimensional artist working in diverse fields ranging from collages and painting, teaching art, textile and costume designing, stage sets designing and wedding decor, to writing on visual and performing arts. |
