BENGALURU: Moving halfway across the planet is daunting enough, and more so when you do so without knowing anybody in the new land. Just ask Aaniya Asrani, a 27-year-old who recently did post-graduation in arts from Canada, after moving there from Bengaluru in 2017.
Today, one of the pieces created by her – one that was made in direct response to her wanting and needing care and community in a foreign land – is currently being exhibited at Centre A: Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art as part of its 6th Annual Recent Graduates Exhibition.
At first glance, the objects used by Asrani for her Listening Vessels piece appear to be nothing more than unassuming ceramic bowls with a small cavity. But as she tells CE more about it, the vessels come across as instruments for conversation and contemplation instead. “The listening vessels seek to embody care, as they want to listen, be present with or activated by others.
They act as material collaborators to having a conversation as they amplify the sound of our voice, our ability to hear another, and even ourselves,” explains the artist and designer from the city, who says her art practice has evolved into an auto-ethnographic search for home and belonging.
This type of care that is extended to strangers is something Asrani calls ‘Radical Care’, a concept that “calls for deeper concentration through processes of listening, being present with and bearing witness to personal anecdotes, traditions and histories of others.”
She, in fact, conceptualised and developed the piece as part of her final thesis for Masters in Fine Art at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. “I only worked on it for four months, as I intuitively started making these vessels in my studio without a clear sense of their purpose until all 32 of them were made,” she reveals.
The participatory nature of the work, however, proved to be a challenge, with Asrani not being able to determine whether or not the creation would be successful in engaging with people. But with the one workshop she has conducted so far, the response has been good. “People used the space to collaboratively sing and respond to one another and it definitely feels like you are a part of a whole when you engage within the piece,” she says, talking about how the work changes based on who is present. “There is always an evolving element of surprise.”
Asrani first developed her interest in community-engaged art practice during her time at Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology. “There was a course called Memory Lab run by artist-filmmaker Nicolás Grandi, where we explored collective memory in spaces that have seen conflict,” she recalls.
Subsequently, she also worked on two projects with him, and author and cultural critic Lata Mani. “These collaborations ultimately propelled me to pursue my masters degree in art and discover social practice as a meaningful form of engaging with others,” she says.