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Alkazi Theatre Archives / Alkazi Foundation for the Arts

Theatre Photography Grant 2020

AWARDEE ANNOUNCEMENT

Grant Awardee: Sridhar Balasubramanium for the project Body//Landscape

Sridhar Balasubramanium graduated in Computer Science from Nehru Arts and Science College,Coimbator and completed a Digital Cinematography Course from L V Prasad labs, Chennai. He has worked as an actor with Manal Magudi Theatre Group, between 2014 and 2017, and has performed at the NSD, International Theatre Festival- Thrissur, Thiruvananthapuram National Festival, etc. His works have been exhibited in group exhibitions, like ‘Here and Elsewhere’ (2018) presented by Ueberall (along with Chennai Photo Biennale and Goethe Institute, Chennai) and ‘Pure Soul’ (2018) held at the Cholamandal Artist Village, Chennai. In 2019, Sridhar’s works were showcased at the Madras Literary Society and at Error Studio, Chennai. He was the recipient of the Serendipity Photography Grant – Theatre documentation (2019) and has been long listed for the TOTO Photography Awards (2019). 

Statement: “I started engaging with the bodies, their form and movement in the theater during my stint at Multiple Theaters (contemporary theaters). Here they create theatre based on indigenous folklore. Through my process, I developed an interest for Dravidian rituals and started traveling across Tamil Nadu, photographing folk ceremonies, performances, tribal weddings and funerals. During which I was drawn to looking at the relationship between the people and the land.

In every land there are multiple bodies and in every body there are many many lands. A body is more than a physical appearance or a metaphysical state. It is also a conglomeration of all that had lived/existed before. Likewise, land is not just a geographical location but a space where nature, people, culture, history, memories thrive. In the times when the distance between the body and the land is ever widening, I’m trying to explore the Theatre Body through the medium of photography.

My current research areas involve the relationship of bodyscapes with it’s landscapes and the tribals’ harmony with nature.”

 

Jury:
Aveek Sen (curator and writer)
Diana Campbell Betancourt (curator)
Richard Schechner (editor of TDR, author and theatre director)