[En]counters: The Fluid City | Kuberanige Niru Beku (The Sea God Wants Water)

Artist: Uday Shanbag
Interactive Art Performance
January 6 to 9, 2011 | 5.00 am – 10.00 pm
Juhu Beach, Mumbai

Focusing on the symbolic and functional meaning of water for the Kolis, Uday Shanbhag inscribed the invocation ‘kuberanige niru beku’ (The Sea God wants more water, in Kannada) at dawn and dusk on the sands of Juhu beach. Through this auspicious incantation, he pleaded to the Sea God for good weather and good catch for the fishermen as they embarked on their daily journey. During the day, the artist set up a tea shop in one shack on the beach, where he listened to stories of the Kolis and entertained the passers-by in a relational performance. The time spent with the fishermen and the daily incantations was documented in a 10-minute video.