CHENNAI: Art is a reflection of society. Artistes take inspiration from what’s around them and create masterpieces. Influenced by the least thought of and the most common product, trash, city-based artiste Preethi Bharadwaj, is presenting ‘Me and My Trash’ for the second time in Chennai. “My trash is a part of me. I need to take responsibility for what I create and offer,” says Preethi.
Conceptualised in October 2022, the performance involves movement, story-telling, spoken word, poetry, and object theatre to explore the complex relationship between art, trash, and humanity. From plastic, technology, tradition, stories, ideas, ideologies, and even art, Preethi focuses on what we generate as trash and examines the after-effects. “Art is a vehicle to communicate and steer people in a direction that is good for the world. This performance addresses the idea of trash, and how we engage with it,” says Akhila Krishnamurthy, founder of Aalaap. Hosting the performance on the terrace of her house, Akhila believes that the title in itself is a personal expression and since our relationship with trash begins at home, presenting the work in an informal set-up will change the way how the audience perceives trash.
For Preethi, trash has different meanings. It is interpreted in a spiritual and metaphorical sense, or it could be an object, theory, or belief. “I started looking at how responsible I am with these understandings, how these make or break me, the priorities, and my presence in the environment. It started taking shape in my head,” she says.
Preethi opines that thinking and talking about trash is imperative and something to ponder on. “There is no escape,” she adds, recommending the audience to start small and be consistent. Spreading this message with her performances, Bharatanatyam has been an important and comfortable medium. In the art form, the performer usually wears the same costume and transforms into a tree, a queen, a beggar, and a lion. While this holds powerful emotional communication, using words, gestures, and objects adds to the experience.
Performing on the music recorded exclusively on a track from La la Land and to a Bharathiyar song by Bombay Jayashri, Preethi will not be wearing the traditional costume but a black co-ord set upon which dry waste will be pinned. With a change in costume in comparison to her previous staging of this performance, there is an inclusion in the team. Ashwin Subramaniyan, a kanjira player, will be dressed in a kurta made out of clothing scrap. “The choice of music is such that it ranges over different moods and genres as is a trash bin that’s full of versatile things in it,” she adds.
The 90-minute-long performance has evolved since it was first staged. Presented by Aalap Concepts and Akhila for the first time, Preethi shares, “Akhila is very curious about the show and intrigued as to what it can be. She has followed the path this production has taken.”
‘Me and My Trash’ will be staged at Terrace, Splendens Rudra on February 9 at 6.30 pm Ticket: Rs 200 For details, contact: aalaap.concepts@gmail.com