Semla, a ghost village in Uttarakhand, was once occupied by 50 families. However, most of them have migrated to the city for better prospects, leaving behind just seven—and by the time we read this, probably even fewer people. Director Srishti Lakhera’s 2021 documentary Ek Tha Gaon (Once Upon a Village), takes us to this eerie, abandoned hamlet and somehow, brings to the fore the humane side of the few people residing there who condemn the idea of migration.
A screening of Lakhera’s 60-minute film—it has been to several film festivals—was organised by Defence Colony-based non-profit organisation, Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (FICA), at the Vadehra Art Gallery on Wednesday. With 30 participants, this event was organised as an extension of FICA’s ongoing initiative, ‘Many Acts of Reading: Critical Reflections on the Agrarian’. The exhibition—it concludes on August 5—displays the works of 12 artists such as Umesh Singh, Sujit Mallik, and others. Along with the reading group, it probes into how various agrarian elements and communities are understood within artistic practise.
Learning and unlearning
‘Many Acts of Reading’ was initiated in October 2021, as an AgriForum, a space to gather and present enquiries about agrarian societies. The programme—organised in collaboration with Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation and Shared Ecologies Program, Shyama Foundation—eventually took shape as an online reading group as well as an exhibition that features artworks, talks, etc., that could help explore and amplify underlying issues.
Elaborating on the intent behind this programme, Vidya Shivadas, a Delhi-based curator at FICA, shared, “The idea of this forum was to engage with artists and artist collectives who were working with the agrarian via readings and discussions. Since October last year, we have been reading on the various issues related to the agrarian, whether it was around soil, seeds, exploring questions of human-animal relationships, our resources such as rivers, etc. The participants also shared their interests and enquiries, which arose from their work in different parts of the country.”
Tales of migration
Ek Tha Gaon revisits themes of migration, livelihood, caste through the lens of the residents of Semla—Leela Devi, an 80-year-old woman and 19-year-old Sandhya. With its human-centric telling of a tale of migration, the 60-minute-long film raises pertinent questions. Shots of snow-laden mountains seamlessly blend into sights of forest fires, creating a commentary on the deteriorating environmental condition as well. The interviews with residents of Semla present first-hand accounts of dreams, nostalgia, and ambition. The film screening was followed by a reading session with academician Smita Tewari Jassal who discussed the folk songs that women sing while in the fields.
CHECK IT OUT
VENUE: Vadehra Art Gallery, Defence Colony
WHAT: ‘Many Acts of Reading’ WHEN: Till August 5
WHAT: ‘The Shepherdess of the Glaciers’ (film screening)
WHEN: July 26; 6:00pm
WHAT: Reading session with Mukul Sharma on caste and nature
WHEN: August 3; 6:00pm