Performance art as resistance in Kashmir | The Caravan

Khursheed Ali and Nasir Hassan, the Srinagar-based artists, use performance to speak about the erasure of Kashmir’s history of conflict, death, grief and repression. They often use red ink and white cloth to conjure images of bloodshed and death. Besides the few props that they bring with them, such as chains and pherans, the artists utilise objects and elements-whether barbed wire or wildflowers-in the surroundings. The question of how the Kashmiri people are connected to these objects and the histories of these landscapes is at the crux of their work. In one of their multiple performances at the deserted Samad island in Srinagar, Hassan, with his face painted a viscous red, lay in the thick grass, holding onto a German chamomile. The wildflower was formerly ubiquitous in Kashmir but is now rare, most often seen in graveyards. Another performance was held at night. The artists performed around a campfire, dressed as a woman and son. The fire, they explained, primarily symbolises incidents where entire villages were burned down during gunfights, such as in Sopore in the early 1990s, amidst militancy and the crushing response of the state. The performance also intends to draw attention to the enforced disappearance of scores of young men and the search for their whereabouts that was primarily taken up by women-mothers, sisters and spouses of the men. The performances in Delhi-which included Khursheed and another Kashmiri artist, Salman Baba-were in sharp contrast to the ones in Kashmir, and were focussed on the political relationship between New Delhi and Kashmir. The artists emphasised, in their interpretation of their performances, that their work was meant to draw attention to the widespread censorship of Kashmiri voices.
(Credits)
Reporting and Video: Shahid Tantray
Video (Delhi Performance): Danish Pandit
Editing: Sibtain Hyder
Subtitling: Rishab Gaur
Copy Editing: Surabhi Kanga
Read the photo essay by Shahid Tantray: caravanmagazin...
Subscribe to The Caravan here: caravanmagazin...
Contribute to The Caravan here: caravanmagazin...
Visit The Caravan website: caravanmagazin...
Visit The Caravan Hindi website, Karwan: hindi.caravanm...
Join us on social media!
Follow us on Twitter: x.com/thecarav...
Follow us on Facebook: / thecaravanmagazine
Follow us on Instagram: / thecaravanmagazine
Follow us on LinkedIn: / the-caravan-magazine
Music by Solo Cello Passion - Doug Maxwell - Media Right Production