Tidal letters-1
Tidal letters-2'
Site-specific project
December 2009
Khagrachary, Chittagong Hill Tract, Bangladesh.
Boundless tide.....tide carries over things from one place to another. Tide breaks lands and houses, again somewhere it develops island. The sound of tide is beautiful, but sometimes bitter. Hope floats on tide and dream also. Tide carries us from here to there. We find something in tidal waves, again this tide sweeps it away. My address is found in tide and my letter. Tide brings about the memory of the events of bloodshed. Tide never cares about good or bad. Tide is eternal.
In the hill tract of Khagrachari, Chittagong (a city of Bangladesh), there is a village named Khamarpara where we eight young artists participated in a five days Site Specific Art Camp.Tripura, one of the smallest ethnic group of Bangladesh live in and around this village. The hills, rivers and fountains of natural environment give us relief from the tiresome mechanical activities of urban life. Yet, electricity doesn't reach to this village. Small business and farming are the main occupations of the village people. We made our camp in the house of Joydeb Roaja, the only educated man of the village who completed his study from university. He is the only Tripura artist who participated in this Art Camp. Most of the people we met in the village, can't speak Bengali (the national language of Bangladesh) well,but their hospitality pleased us. They also enjoyed our company. We tried to exchange our thoughts and feelings with them. If we could speak Tripura language, we would have become more intimate. When they shared their feelings and experiences with us, we felt they have a kind of discontentment and despair in them. The encroachment of their lands by the powerful Bengali people, Bangladeshi Army's aggression, the political turmoil among their own ethnic groups made fear within them. Apart from these, the tobacco companies of city take away many cultivable land from them with a very small price. This may cause serious natural disaster in future.
We know that, Bengali people struggled to save their language, culture and liberty. But, now it is the Bengali people who attack the culture and honour of the small ethnic groups in Bangladesh with political and social support. For the suppression on these small ethnic groups, the agitation and despair of the ethnic groups are growing intense day by day.
I wanted to share with them some of my feelings that arise seeing their helplessness and despair. In the fourth day of Art Camp, I wrote a letter in my own language, Bengali. Joydev Roaja translated the letter in Kokborok language (Kokborok is the native language of the Tripura people) . Kokborok language has no individual alphabets, this language is expressed through Bengali alphabets in the letter.
Tidal Letters -1
Date: 4 December
Space: The Tea stall of Khamarpara village in Khagrachary
Tidal letters-2'
Site-specific project
December 2009
Khagrachary, Chittagong Hill Tract, Bangladesh.
Tidal Letters, site-specific project, installation, photo from
Samdani Art Award show at Dhaka Art Summit 2014
Boundless tide.....tide carries over things from one place to another. Tide breaks lands and houses, again somewhere it develops island. The sound of tide is beautiful, but sometimes bitter. Hope floats on tide and dream also. Tide carries us from here to there. We find something in tidal waves, again this tide sweeps it away. My address is found in tide and my letter. Tide brings about the memory of the events of bloodshed. Tide never cares about good or bad. Tide is eternal.
In the hill tract of Khagrachari, Chittagong (a city of Bangladesh), there is a village named Khamarpara where we eight young artists participated in a five days Site Specific Art Camp.Tripura, one of the smallest ethnic group of Bangladesh live in and around this village. The hills, rivers and fountains of natural environment give us relief from the tiresome mechanical activities of urban life. Yet, electricity doesn't reach to this village. Small business and farming are the main occupations of the village people. We made our camp in the house of Joydeb Roaja, the only educated man of the village who completed his study from university. He is the only Tripura artist who participated in this Art Camp. Most of the people we met in the village, can't speak Bengali (the national language of Bangladesh) well,but their hospitality pleased us. They also enjoyed our company. We tried to exchange our thoughts and feelings with them. If we could speak Tripura language, we would have become more intimate. When they shared their feelings and experiences with us, we felt they have a kind of discontentment and despair in them. The encroachment of their lands by the powerful Bengali people, Bangladeshi Army's aggression, the political turmoil among their own ethnic groups made fear within them. Apart from these, the tobacco companies of city take away many cultivable land from them with a very small price. This may cause serious natural disaster in future.
We know that, Bengali people struggled to save their language, culture and liberty. But, now it is the Bengali people who attack the culture and honour of the small ethnic groups in Bangladesh with political and social support. For the suppression on these small ethnic groups, the agitation and despair of the ethnic groups are growing intense day by day.
I wanted to share with them some of my feelings that arise seeing their helplessness and despair. In the fourth day of Art Camp, I wrote a letter in my own language, Bengali. Joydev Roaja translated the letter in Kokborok language (Kokborok is the native language of the Tripura people) . Kokborok language has no individual alphabets, this language is expressed through Bengali alphabets in the letter.
Tidal Letters -1
Date: 4 December
Space: The Tea stall of Khamarpara village in Khagrachary
I installed hundreds of enveloped Xerox copies of the letters decorated with flowers on the only tea stall in the village where people used to take tea. People who came into the tea stall gave glances at the letters, and some of them read them. The letter in the Tripuri language created interest among the Tripuri people. The village people, who have at least completed primary education, can read. The other people, who cannot read at all, can hear someone reading aloud the letter. This is the first part of my project.
Tidal Letters- 2
Date: 5 December, Morning
Space: Chengi river in Khagrachary
In the second part, I enveloped about hundreds of Xerox copies of this letter and decorated the letters with flowers in the special process, then floated them on the river waves. People have to cross a river named Chengi to reach the village. This is a small stream; anyone can cross it by walking. There are more villages in that direction, toward which the river flows. I made some boat-like objects using a banana tree and floated the enveloped letters on the object. I floated the letters on the day of our return. That was a fog-swarmed morning. The small boats started their journey to some unknown destination.
Date: 5 December, Morning
Space: Chengi river in Khagrachary
" Well wishes hilly rivers,
Fountains and forests made us oblivious of the monotonous urban life. Your hospitality has pleased us. We are going to forget the colour of blood. We complain in necessity or without
necessity. We laugh and weep. We go to authority for saving us. Authority is the savior who can save. We are not happy and don't let anyone to be happy. Even a trifle subject can arise rivalry among us. Your complains are repressed. We, the so-called civilized fools pretend not to understand your despair. We never try to realize that your authority is brutal. Every cell of our brain is becoming toxicant. Before considering ourselves as human beings,we consider ourselves as communities. We know, you are enduring various attacks form different sides. We know the bloodstained assault that came upon you. Still you are facing discrimination. The covetous people of city are destroying the fertility of your lands. We are also helpless. We love beauty but incapable to protect it. We are floating with the tidal waves.
Take care.
Palash."
-This was my letter which was translated in Tripura language.
Fountains and forests made us oblivious of the monotonous urban life. Your hospitality has pleased us. We are going to forget the colour of blood. We complain in necessity or without
necessity. We laugh and weep. We go to authority for saving us. Authority is the savior who can save. We are not happy and don't let anyone to be happy. Even a trifle subject can arise rivalry among us. Your complains are repressed. We, the so-called civilized fools pretend not to understand your despair. We never try to realize that your authority is brutal. Every cell of our brain is becoming toxicant. Before considering ourselves as human beings,we consider ourselves as communities. We know, you are enduring various attacks form different sides. We know the bloodstained assault that came upon you. Still you are facing discrimination. The covetous people of city are destroying the fertility of your lands. We are also helpless. We love beauty but incapable to protect it. We are floating with the tidal waves.
Take care.
Palash."
-This was my letter which was translated in Tripura language.
