Soul Breath Wind

Mining is viewed as crucial for the development of the country, despite its reckless impact and furious energy it moves with- in directions opposite to sustainable progress, causing destruction and violence. The multi-channel video, Soul Breath Wind has evolved from my research and contact with the local communities, who are struggling for justice against powerful forces committing crime by increasing the vulnerability of ecosystems. The appropriation of natural resources - human non-human alike, is persisting in a big way under the pretext of progress for the well-being of the country. Among the questions, which constantly emerge, are: if this is progress then why are all living beings on the planet are facing high consequence risks, environmental harm and, what social scientists Giddens, Beck and Lash (1994) say, are ‘manufactured risks’? How does one sense the insensible and what is happening in these areas and in other states?

The participants in the video, speak about the systems of relationship being disrupted at different levels, which open up questions concerning what and who are we really caring for, and the impact on their relationship to land; their contribution to the maintenance of the ecosystem for centuries; and of the capitalist agenda of fast development at any cost for the pursuit of quick profit for the few, where hope for one mingles with the loss of another in palpable ways. The imposed segregation from their live-world has resulted in the marginalization of the indigenous ways of life, their oral tradition of knowledge, poetic dimensions of existence, but also jeopardized their efforts towards co-creating an environment in which people, non-people and nature could flourish.

The concept of deep ecology involves asking questions to understand the ways in which humans relate to their environment; It implies understanding that that humans are not isolated from nature but are part of it. These values have made me deeply interested in the concept of ecological aesthetics, an aesthetics of integration and probing into the historical roots of the fast-growing culture of unsustainability. I am interested also in the aesthetics of sustainability as it delves ‘into the meaning and implications of justice, in a pluralistic way. […] Aesthetics of sustainability also convey humility towards the non-human environment’ (Kagan2010.1099-1100).

Yet, despite all kinds of political pressures, more than 82 affected and to be affected villages due to the coal mines and power plants, in the northern central part of the state have come together to collectively resist coal mining in favour of renewable resources. This is known as ‘Koyla Satyagraha’…These people want to continue farming. They constitute a community, not as something given, but as the result of co-participation and dialogue. Community, in this sense, is a space for feedback, collaboration and caring. Their coming together has compelled the system to introduce new laws. It is in this space of exchange, of growing feelings of mutual care that I have witnessed new learning processes emerge and living knowledge and wisdom outpour. The ecological crisis implies also the loss of this sense of interconnectedness and of existing social networks.

In the Southern Bastar District, the communities are not only facing forced land appropriation for development projects and mining, they have also been dealing with conflicts arising between local inhabitants and the state police, CRPF (Central Reserve Police Forces) ITBP (Indo Tibetan Border Police) as well as with left-wing extremists…