Photo: Saskia Nagel
I am now back in Berlin working on the project Meridian | Urban: Curatorial projects on Health, initiated by HKW. http://www.hkw.de/en/programm/2011/meridian_urban/veranstaltungen_53880/Veranstaltungsdetail_62900.php
This is particularly pertinent at this point in time – health being a big issue in my life. My mother is laid up in hospital in India, she was in a semi coma state when I last saw her. I do not know whether she can walk, talk, or feed herself again…
Since June, when I was last in Berlin, so much has happened. I traveled to India for a family gathering and my mother was fine. A bit phased out, she has Alzheimer’s, every now and then but fine and happy to have us and her grand kids around. Then I went to Singapore to spend a weekend with my brother and returned to take my dog – who filled our lives with love for 11 years, to the hospital where he died 2 days later……. Soon after I got news of my mother’s fall and hospitalisation and that she was in a semi coma state so I rushed to India.
I am still mourning the loss of my dog….
Then I packed my bags for Berlin.. to come here and brew an elixir (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4XxAB1GQhQ&feature=youtu.be) to treat a street in town, to re-align the many aspects of life. And, in the performance we presented (one of seven) along Invaliden Str, the street of the invalids, a street with a deep history, all aspects of life seem to come together.
That is how ‘work’ happens – bringing together life and “art”…
We are 7 who come together for the performance – 7 individuals each with their own stories/histories, all unique, and yet together – each bringing a richness of experience of life – our joys and….
I feel the tug of our connection in the performance as we interact with the street and each other.
This image is from the first site on Invaliden Str – the Vocational School of Banks and Insurance…
After the project ends I go back to India, to my mother, who is now managing a smile or two..that, at this stage, means everything and more.
It makes the heart a bit lighter and working on the performance here, connecting with the group acts as an elixir to calm the mind and find a sense of balance again.
Photo by: Christoph Scheierke
