Anuradha Venkataraman | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
In 2016, a horrifying headline the hinduAnuradha Venkataraman said, ‘Landless families have no place to bury their dead.’ The article detailed the plight of landless families, especially Dalits, in Shivamogga district of Karnataka, who were forced to bury their loved ones on the riverbanks, but the bodies were washed away by the rains. This horrific scene deeply disturbed her and stayed with her. As she thought deeply about the subject, it became clear that this was a widespread issue and not an isolated incident.
“Coming from an urban, privileged background, this reality felt uncomfortable and distant. Empathy felt inadequate because I was removed from their experience. Still, the contrast between my lifestyle and theirs compelled me to respond,” says Anuradha.
The culmination of the response is ‘Bound by Soil: A Requiem for the Forgotten’, her upcoming Bharatanatyam performance to music composed by DS Srivathsa and Lalgudi R Sriganesh.
Influenced by Sarah Joseph’s books, Anuradha explored the complex interrelationships between environment and development. gifts in green and P Sainath’s Everyone loves a good dry. She was still struggling to put this serious issue into the language of Bharatanatyam. Then, a friend suggested reading ONV Kurup’s Malayalam poem, Bhoomikkoru CharameethamThis gave him the success he needed.
“The poetry provided an invaluable resource. As a movement artist, it is important to create and work with imagery. The poetry offered powerful visual metaphors that matched my ideas perfectly. Though there is no strict narrative, the abstract imagery – forests disappearing, farmers losing their land, the manipulation of water and earth – resonated deeply. I saw a clear path to translate these images into movement.”
Anuradha Venkataraman | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
a visual lament
Apart from literature, she also drew inspiration from nature. Whenever she got a chance, she tried to connect with nature.
Anuradha’s choreography for ‘Bound by Soil’ is deliberately different from traditional Bharatanatyam. “I have deliberately kept the use of text to a minimum,” she says, and opted for a more abstract narrative. The performance is a visual and auditory experience involving movement, sound, and depictions of a human as a parasite.
The focus was on evoking an emotional response rather than intellectual understanding. “In recent years, my experience as a spectator has made me prioritize the audience’s overall experience over their ability to understand every detail. I want the audience to feel something, to connect with the performance on a visceral level.”
“My aim is to create a performance that engages the audience on a deeper, experiential level. I am interested in disturbing the audience rather than providing a conventionally pleasing aesthetic,” she continues, “Classical art forms often prioritise emotions such as peace and beauty. My approach deliberately contradicts this, aiming to provoke a more disruptive emotional response. Ultimately, I am curious how audiences will respond to this departure from tradition.”
Anuradha’s artistic journey has been a journey of introspection. She says, “My journey as an artist has evolved from teaching art as a purely aesthetic discipline to recognising its inherent connection with the world around us.” This deep-rooted belief in the power of art to influence and inspire forms the core of ‘Bound by Soil’.
“I believe all art is inherently political. Even when an artist claims to avoid social commentary, his or her work is a product of his or her surroundings and experiences,” she says, “Art can subtly influence the viewer’s subconscious, prompting them to consider issues they may not have consciously thought about. Whether intentional or not, art connects to the world around us, making it impossible to separate art from politics.”
On August 14, 7 pm at Seva Sadan, Malleswaram. Tickets on BookMyShow.
