A performance artist uses a water body of the China Art Academy Campus.

I am not and never have been very much of an academic. Therefore it was with great trepidation that I accepted an invitation last month, from the China Art Academy, to be part of a symposium to help formulate a new “multi-disciplinary art course.”

As expected the three days were very cerebral. There were numerous artists from China and Taiwan who shared their working methodologies. The Internationals were represented by a German director, a UK professor, a UK festival producer, another professor from the US, a live artist from Israel and me. The academy had done very well to put together such a varied mix of people. The only person I knew from before was Zhao Chuan, the director of Shanghai’s Grass Stage theatre company, whom we had hosted in Mumbai last year. He smiled knowingly at my discomfort at being in an “academic” environment.
The wonderful thing about a conference such as this is the work you get exposed to. In my talk, I spoke about how technology was affecting Indian theatre makers today, particularly the obsession with cameras and video.
The person who spoke after me, also talked about the influence of technology on Taiwan’s theatre. Except that he had devised dance duets with robots and humans. Clearly the definition of technology means different things in different cultures.
German director Kai Tuchman and Chinese director Professor Wu, talked about documentary theatre, and its use in telling stories that are inspired by research and testimonials of people. Similar to productions like Jazz, or The Vagina Monologues or even most recently Nirbhaya.
The most striking thing of the conference was the pride of place of Live Performance Art; a relatively new form that has become very popular in the West (and so it happens in China as well). There are quite a few Indian Performance Artists, but most of them ply their “trade” abroad in art shows across the world, although this is changing ever so slightly.
In Live Performance Art, the performer(s) create a piece that does not “need” an audience per se. It is an expression of an emotion or idea. It can be inconsistent and vary from show to show. And just like a painting or sculpture, you are left to make your own conclusions about the work on offer. You might find it tedious, or aesthetically beautiful or even emotionally moving. Not having too much exposure to the form, I was grateful that a couple of Live Art performances were scheduled at the end of the symposium. The first was an elaborate performance using the water bodies, plants, statues and the lawns of the beautiful China Art Academy, Hangzhou campus. While it had powerful images, I seemed to lose interest in it quite quickly.
The other was a much simpler, quieter piece about a man and his relationship with a mirror — using it to dress up, shattering it, lying with it, and finally throwing it away. We were drawn to it, even in the fading evening light. The context however made it even more powerful.
The performer turned out to be indigenous Taiwanese. Not part of the Han Chinese population who had settled in Taiwan after the Communist revolution on Mainland China. The indigenous population is the minority, and they are struggling to find their identity in a land that was once theirs.
I am not sure if there were any benefits of the symposium for the academy, or if it helped fine tune their new course on Inter-media and interdisciplinary studies, or if my presence helped in anyway.
All I know is that I am glad I went. I am a better artist for having been there and seeing what the world has to offer and for participating in intense discussions with my fellow internationals Kai, Lynn and Tamar till four in the morning. Who knows, maybe I am a little “academic” after all!