Landscape as Evidence: Artist as Witness

A Staged Hearing Before the Commission of Inquiry under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, New Delhi, 2017

This was a collaborative project which included artists Ravi Agarwal, myself, and Sheba Chhachhi, lawyers Anand Grover, Norma Alveres, Justice Yatindra Singh and theatre director Zuleikha Chaudhary. It was supported by Khoj International Artists’ Association and Thyssen Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna. The hearing was staged the first time at the Speakers Hall, Constitution Club of India in New Delhi on 7 April 2017.

My participation in this collaborative project was based on my experience and research on the devastation caused by the coal mines and the impact on the environment and the lives, culture, local economy of the indigenous communities. It is also in solidarity with the people who are sensitive and deeply engaged in raising and combating environmental and human right injustices.