Two Yards of Delhi: naam, 2019
video series (1/5), 07:41
This two-channel video series traces narratives of belonging and identity in Delhi. It draws on acts of defiance by the city's communities, portrayed across two video channels linked by a single audio track. These narratives include performances by Sufi singers and street theater artists, protests by student activists, and video filmed by children who work in informal economies based around the Yamuna River.
The title is taken from “After Seeing Kozintsev’s King Lear in Delhi”, a poem by Agha Shahid Ali. It references the words of the last emperor of Delhi who was exiled from the city by the British colonial administration:
‘“Unfortunate Zafar
spent half his life in hope,
the other half waiting.
He begs for two yards of Delhi for burial.”
He was exiled to Burma, buried in Rangoon.’
The title draws on the resonance of these words for the city's communities who work to claim their citizenship within hostile urban and state mechanisms.
The title is taken from “After Seeing Kozintsev’s King Lear in Delhi”, a poem by Agha Shahid Ali. It references the words of the last emperor of Delhi who was exiled from the city by the British colonial administration:
‘“Unfortunate Zafar
spent half his life in hope,
the other half waiting.
He begs for two yards of Delhi for burial.”
He was exiled to Burma, buried in Rangoon.’
The title draws on the resonance of these words for the city's communities who work to claim their citizenship within hostile urban and state mechanisms.
Two Yards of Delhi: naam was installed as part of the Living As A Nation exhibition at the Queens Museum in 2021-22, anchored through the Yantra (prototype) sculptures.
|
|
|
