Lucid Sleep

Curated by HH Art Spaces, Goa

The engagement of the Live Artist is aesthetic but also shamanic, one could say; to achieve a state of transcendence through transformation. To witness ones own metamorphosis, within a performance, is the work of the live-artist crafting Time, Space and Body.

The title recalls Abbe Ferria, whose statue stands outside the Adil Shah Palace, who is a key figure in the understanding of Goa’s identity – as a hub for the practitioners of the healing arts, shamans and yogis. Abbe Ferria (b. 1756, Candolim, Bardez, Goa), was the first to carry out a large work on the scientific study of hypnosis, “Of the Cause of Lucid Sleep or Study of the Nature of Man” (De La Cause du Sommeil Lucide Ou Étude de la Nature de l’Homme).

The artists presenting the performances in this series were invited for a period one-month to be artists-in-residence at the HH Art Spaces. We are an artist-run residency space founded in 2013, as a space focused on live-art practice. The performances are un-choreographed, unique pieces composed live, in-situ by each artist. The residues of the performances will remain on-display as installations after the closing of the festival.

Uriel Barthélémi: Following his studies at the conservatoires of Reims, La Courneuve, Montreuil, and Ircam, Uriel Barthélémi’s electro-acoustic compositional work led him to collaborate in numerous areas of the performing arts from 2002 onwards. In parallel, he performs as a drummer for several projects and conducts research into the drum and computer connection. These multiple themes have made him reflect upon the concepts of performance and improvisation, to take into account the concepts of plasticity and physicality of sound through spatial layout, as well as questioning the place of the performer.

Bhisaji Gadekar: Goa-based performance artist, Bhisaji Gadekar is influenced by the use of space and will use the architecture as a reference or as a backdrop.

Yasmin Jahan Nupur: She is inspired by the urgent ecological and community/public aspects and inclined to incorporate these elements in her work. Yasmin Jahan Nupur also likes to depict human relationships from various points of view. Therefore, she works closely with people from the community who are deprived from social benefits. Yasmin’s work explores prevailing social values of her region and she believes a collective participation with the community can increase understanding between people of different backgrounds.

Jeetin Rangher: Jeetin Rangher’s performances are based on his observations of our social living. It is a response or critical reflection of our social as well as political behavior. He is concerned about the human interventions up on natural order and natural world. The supremacy that man tries to establish over nature, a kind of colonizing and displacing natural habitats is one of the concerns that he takes into the premises of his art, especially painting.

Murari Jha: Murari Jha is a Delhi based artist who works in different areas of artistic practice – painting, performance, installations and video. His art is personal narration, the everyday experience of social politics, the politics of his body, space and sexuality.