Based off of the success of Take Flight 2018, Perch, a Chennai based theater collective has taken what was originally meant to be a standalone event for their 10 year anniversary and transformed it into an annual shindig. With 7 distinct art pieces on display, each across different mediums, Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan plays host to the Take Flight 2019 event on October 19 and 20.
Embracing the chaos that is the process of art, Perch’s Take Flight event is marked by its emphasis on the ‘work in progress’, rather than it’s perfection or completion. “ There’s always a pressure on the artist to complete when it comes to art shows and performances but we don’t want that. There’s one artist performing a full length 40 minute play, whereas another might showcase an incomplete art piece. Either way, the show is for them and not just for us, `` remarks Anushka, the coordinator of the Take Flight event at Perch.
Selected from a pool of nearly 100 applicants, Take Flight features 7 artists showcasing their contemporary artwork on mediums ranging from plays to interactive art installations. Anushka adds , “ There’s no fixed criteria to selection. At Perch, it is more of a process of feeling inspired and feeling connected to the pitches”.
The curated collection is meant to reflect diversity in both medium and theme as it ranges from Prema Revathi’s tribute to her mother in an exploration of violence in intimate relationships to V Saranraj’s audio experience of the stone quarry workers. As Dhakshini J works with the audience to interact with her art piece, Padmapriya’s work takes the form of a book documenting the experiences of solo women travellers. Through the lens of stories, myths and folklore, artist Navaneetha Krishna Rajasekaran traces the flow of Indigenous knowledge systems.
The grant offered by Perch has no barriers to entry other than that you’re a Tamil Nadu resident. This decision like all others, was a conscious one, in order to unleash a creative freedom in use of language and theme. This has allowed for performances such as Bagu’s “Paatigalum Pazhamozhi Kadhaigalum”, a play drawing inspiration from the proverbs of Tamil writer, Sanmugam and Muthuvel’s Tamil renditions of migrant and worker poetry.
The Question and Answer sessions with the artists themselves were one of the highlights from the last year that’s been retained for this year as well. Aimed at encouraging questions from people both from the field itself and walk-ins, both foundational and performance related questions are welcome.
“It’s not just about the fund or the grant, we want to build a community of artists. We have a lot of the artists from last year’s show helping us this time around, `` says Anushka, as she elaborates on the ever-broadening vision of the Take Flight event as it grows exponentially, year after year.
Catch the artists & the artwork at the Take Flight 2019 at Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan on October 19 and 20.