This series of works interrogates borders-natural, societal, and political. Sundarbans Archipelago, situated at the border of India and Bangladesh, faces an existential crisis for its human and non-human populations due to climate change and ecomigration across the borders of two countries. The painting also narrates the oral mythology and religion of the indigenous community of the forest, blurring boundaries between Hindus and Muslims, all of whom pay reverence to the same deity, Bono Bibi, before entering the forests to carry out their livelihoods for fear of the tigers. This is different from the polarised sentiments of the rest of the country based on religion. The worship of Bon Bibi offers an opportunity to reflect on place-based framings of the environment in specific conservation landscapes, where the dominant conservation ethic is rooted in statist provisions.
Approaching the issue of borders through my experiences of place and migration, I examine how physical, societal, and imagined boundaries shape each other. I create a dense visual narrative of the rural communities, adivasis (indigenous people), their cultures, and natural ecosystems impacted by human-made borders at the Sundarbans. I draw correlations between human and non-human migrations in these geographic locations and ecosystems. Over the decades of my life, I have observed transformations in the landscapes of the Sundarbans near my hometown, Kolkata.
In this series, I question: can we advocate for a world that recognizes our interdependence with each other, human and non-human, and the earth? Though shaped by different cultures and experiences, our paths are connected by shared hopes, resilience, and the universal search for home. The stories of these communities invite us to recognize that the threads connecting us are stronger than the borders that divide us.
An excerpt on the painting in The Mercury News
https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/10/29/cupertinos-euphrat-celebrates-animal-world-with-new-exhibit/
The rising waters of the ocean and shifting landscapes due to climate change in the Sundarbans Archipelago are causing salinity and death of the “Sundari” trees (literally meaning Beautiful), Mangrove trees, and causing ecological impacts like Eco-migration of the inhabitants and close to endangerment of tigers and Bengal dolphins. Cities like Kolkata, which are somewhat protected by the Sundarbans, are succumbing to the ravages of Nature. The correlation of the Sundari trees and the tiger widows and the mythologies of the forest spirit Bon Bibi is drawn in the painting. Bon Bibi, the forest deity, is worshipped by both the Hindus and Muslims of the forest and personifies the balance of nature and all living things. The lives of the Tiger- Widows offer a glimpse of a unique relationship between environment, culture, and mental health. Their story is one of gender issues and stigma, but also of eco-migration, human trafficking, and the delicate balance of nature, and how the victims of the forest are trying to conserve the forest by planting Sundari Trees. The painting tries to portray the complex effects of climate change on both humans, tigers, and dolphins through the folklore of Bon Bibi and the malevolent Tiger God Dokkhin Rai.
Stories behind the paintings in this series:
My Hometown of Kolkata was somewhat protected by the Sundarbans, but with transformations in shifting landscapes due to the loss of mangrove forests in the delta, Kolkata is succumbing more and more to the ravages of Nature. In the Painting, the Map of the Sundarbans and my hometown morph into the Sundari mangrove trees; my name Piyali, is a river in the Sundarbans. The essence of the folklore that the tigers, humans, and the ecosystem of the Sundarbans are intertwined threads to create a strong rope is echoed in the image of the drapery manifesting into the half-man, half-tiger deity worshiped by the forest indigenous community. The painting depicts cyclonic waves engulfing the map of the Sundarbans Archipelago, floods, and shifting and disappearing landscapes due to rising waters of the ocean with climate change and salinization of the delta and its rivers, and mangrove forests. The painting also narrates the oral mythology and religion of the indigenous community of the forest. Drawing on Bon Bibi Johura Nama (the oral mythology), it traces the practice of Boni Bibi (Forest Spirit) worship; the deity personifies the balance of nature and all living things in the mangrove forests. Bon Bibi worship has evolved as a “religion of the forest,” blurring boundaries between Hindus and Muslims, all of whom pay reverence to her before entering the forests to carry out their livelihoods. The worship of Bon Bibi offers an opportunity to reflect on place-based framings of the environment in specific conservation landscapes, where the dominant conservation ethic is rooted in statist provisions.
The lives of the Tiger Widows offer a glimpse of a unique relationship between environment, culture, and gender issues. Their story is one of pain and stigma, but also of hope, a delicate balance of nature and how the victims of the forest are trying to conserve their Home.