Seasongray

Opera Film

SECRET LIFE OF MEMORIES Tent Cinema for Lhamo Opera

Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, 5th-7th August 2014

Building upon the research, study, documentation and audio-video resource of two decades, Seasongray installed video projections of Lhamo Opera in a semblance of Nomadic Space at created at Lalit Kala Gallery, New Delhi. The Opera was mounted as Cinema Sensorium streaming live and archival video loops on multiple screens. It was installed as a walk-through in a Semblance of Tibet Road/ Silk & Spice Route, that takes the viewer through a dim lit corridor of faded paintings, into Hotel Lakhpa where the opera plays out in multiple video loops leading you further into the green room to meet the performers of Tibetan Opera with their fine crafted costumes, props and masks.

The majority of the backdrops for the exhibition walls and partitions were painted by two migrant signboard painters from Garhwal. The local Tibetan community from Majnu ka Tila collaborated with special Tibetan butter tea for the opening; and the famous Lafing seller setting up his Lafing (a Tibetan-Chinese dish) stall inside Hotel Lakhpa.

This exhibition was done in collaboration with the Kalimpong Tibetan Opera Association while the Lalit Kala Akademi provided the space and resource; A Lighting professional, an Art Director and a team of young film & drama students joined Seasongray for the setting up and mounting of the show that was open to Public for three days as part of the 60th anniversary celebrations at Lalit Kala Akademi. It was a critical coming together of a cross ethnic, cross profession diaspora that lent a unique synergy to the experience. The Exhibition got enthusiastic reviews and warm responses from the Sahridayas/ Viewers and was instrumental  in opening doors for Looking at History, Story and Tradition in a new light for the collaborators. Zero Point is the next step in the collaboration, extending to a four part project.

 

The Show is first in the series of Exhibitions/ Installations

Secret Life of Memories planned as traveling shows

by its artistes/ collaborators:

Arghya Basu, Rajula Shah

& 

Kalimpong Tibetan Opera Association

with

Tsewang Paljor, Samdup Tsering, Anup Joshi, Seetaram, 

Tenzin Younten, Tenzin Namkha, Ngawang Tenzin, 

Bhupal Singh, Pankaj Bangde, Reema Kaur, Rishi Bhattacharya, 

Bhismapratim Chakraborty, Manendra Lodhi, Sagnik Mondal & Madhusudan Baul