Debashish Paul's 'A Thousand Years Of Dreaming' Looks At Small-Town India Through A Queer Lens

A barefoot man in a sculptural paper dress and large, spherical mask walks the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi. The stretched, graffiti-ed garment and fantastical headgear transform his body into something more than itself: something haunting and holy. His surreal form and fluid movements queer the sacred river and the ancient city. This is Debashish Paul’s ‘Beyond the Body and Gender’ — a performance piece that blends sculpture and performance art and explores the idea of the queer body and identity in a society dominated by heterosexual norms. In the concept note for ‘Beyond the Body and Gender’, Paul writes, “I seek to expand and explore the tabooed conception of homosexuality by unveiling the body, treating it as a tender landscape, and generating new references to queer identities.”

A multi-disciplinary artist known for his unique performance style, Paul uses dresses and masks which indicate no specific gender orientation and automatic movements that conceal and reveal his private emotions and sensibilities. He explores the possibilities for repair, reconciliation, and consolation through ritual-play using various media like drawing, painting, sculpture, performance, sound, photo, and videography in his practice.

Paul considers the meticulous process of foraging, cutting, pasting, and layering in the sculptural dresses made from Nepali handmade paper as part of the transformation process of the body: treating it like an unfolding within the landscape that inspires the conceptual framework.

‘A Thousand Years of Dreaming’, his first solo exhibition at Emami Art, Kolkata, includes performance stills, drawings, and sculptures created around ‘Hazaro Saalon ka Sapna’, a two-part film set in Benares (Varanasi), that examines queer desires against the backdrop of small-town socio-politics that force queer men in smaller towns and cities to marry women and conceal their queer identities and desires.

The first part of the film enacts the story of a distant, seemingly impossible marriage between two men — complete with a wedding band, a white horse, and the intimate protagonists adorned in flowers. The second part follows a reversal of this dream scenario — the painful process of masking and shedding; washing and soaking; and frustration and exhaustion resulting from the constant posturing and concealment of their queer identities and desires.

The new exhibition, curated by Mario D'Souza, explores the complexity of these queer men leading double lives and concealing their identities from family and society and the marginalisation they face in small-town India through masked and costumed ritual-play inspired by the autobiographical-fantastical experience of Paul's own romantic relationships.

"My work is deeply inspired by rituals and mythological stories," Paul says. "I was born in Nadia district, where the influence of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Bhakti movement is still very deep. I grew up surrounded by the religious customs and rituals of the area, where I was exposed to Kirtans, Gajan, and Jatra, which are intertwined with the mythological stories. Through Kirtan and religious recitations in temples and monasteries, I was mesmerized by the stories of Radha-Krishna and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s merging into Krishna's body, among other themes. These influences have become an inseparable part of my life."

"The queerness of gods and goddesses in mythology has inspired me greatly," the artist says. "I am particularly influenced by the story of Shiva as Ardhanarishvara, the transformation of Krishna into Mohini, and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's love for Krishna and his merging into Krishna's body. These mythological stories help me spiritually embrace my queerness. The queerness present in the attire and adornments of gods and goddesses also inspires me. I envision a new world where everyone is united, free from discrimination, and filled with love, passion and spirituality — like a paradise."

‘A Thousand Years of Dreaming’ is on display from September 6 to October 26 at Emami Art, Kolkata.

Follow Debashish Paul here.

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