It’s been 53 years since The Beatles told the world that “all you need is love.” While the song makes great background music for a cornucopia of cinema and pop culture, the message clearly hasn’t filtered through yet. Hate seems to be giving it a run for its money, at least in India’s current social milieu. Hoping to counteract that is art duo Thukral & Tagra, through their collaborative, crowd-sourced project, Nafrat/ Parvah. The idea is that even hate cannot sustain, if not cared for.
So, why not curate caring instead? This public undertaking, for lack of a better catchy phrase, is being showcased at The Pond, the space run by Thukral and Tagra in Safdarjung Enclave. Much like the resource it’s named after, The Pond is a petri-dish of emergent entities, be it a co-working space, an artist’s showcase, as well as a sneaker showroom, among many other things. The concept behind Nafrat/ Parvah is fairly simple.
You are invited to visit The Pond with an object that you hate and wish to give up with a note describing why you chose that particular item, and in exchange you are provided a 30-minute grooming session, with services extending from beard trimming to hair care, ‘care’ being the operative word. An examination of the “hate” objects reveal further distinctions. For some, the hated object is a (empty) box of cigarettes, with “because I hate smoking” scrawled across the package, for some it’s a tad more meaningful. “If you hate something, that still means you care enough to react to it,” says Jiten Thukral, one half of the duo. And ultimately it’s the caring that matters.
Also, this is not a protest space, as Jhunjhun Jain, brand manager of The Pond, cautions. It’s a peaceful place to just show how you feel. While the project is ongoing till February 29, people are welcome to deposit their objects of hate and get some care in return. As to what Thukral and Tagra finally intend to derive from all this? Watch this space for more. Till: February 29, At: The Pond, Commercial Complex, Safdarjung Enclave, Opposite Deer Park