Gestures, Rituals, Residues brings together a selection of Indian artist films that approach the moving image as an extension of artistic practice rather than narrative cinema.
Vakratunda Swaha
35mm, Colour, 21 minutes, 2010
Brihnnlal ki Khelkali / Dancing Othello
16mm, Colour, 18 minutes, 2002
Performing Death
DV, Colour, 16 minutes, 2002
Spanning film, video, performance, and ritualised action, the programme foregrounds works in which gesture, embodiment, and material processes become central modes of inquiry. Across these films, the camera functions less as a storytelling device and more as a witness to performative acts, symbolic labour, and repetitions that echo sculptural, theatrical, and ritual forms.
By focusing exclusively on Indian artist films, the programme situates these practices within local histories of performance, myth, body politics, and material culture, while remaining deeply resonant with contemporary interdisciplinary discourse. The selected works engage with questions of authorship, presence, and transformation—where meaning emerges through action, duration, and physicality rather than linear narration.
The screening will be introduced with a short contextual note, followed by a post-screening conversation that frames the films as practice-led works, inviting audiences to consider how moving images operate alongside other artistic forms within contemporary art ecosystems.
