Artworks Buddha Enlightened – 2 Be, world peace
Invited Artists for Buddha Enlightened- 2 Be, world peace, Bihar, India, 2011
Organized by Sanjeev Sinha and Dianne Hagen
Sanjeev Sinha (India), Nuclear +, 2011
Football goal, Riksha, barbwire, metal, plastic dolls
Sinead McCann, Ireland
‘Grounded’, performanceJohan Thom, South Africa
‘Thank You’, performanceCarol Hummel (USA), ‘Namaste, Bhai! Namaste, Didi!’
In an on-going project, Carol Hummel examines the ties that bind human being together by hand-making bracelets and gifting them to everyone she meets. Her actions are rooted in an examination of how we are connected through kinship, labour, social interaction and friendship. Traversing socially constructed constraints of difference her gesture of gifting a handmade bracelet to all she meets crosses the boundaries that separate and confine humanity. The simplicity of the exchange is deceptive for it recalls bonding rituals that are central to the idea of what it is to be a social being.
During her stay in Bodhgaya, Carol gifted bracelets to more than 1,300 people. She has given out more than 2,800 bracelets in India during the past year.
Carol Hummel (USA), ‘Best of luck, Nuclear World’
Country Number of Nuclear Warheads Year Acquired
- United States 9,600 1945
- Russia 12,000 1949
- United Kingdom (UK) 225 1952
- France 300 1960
- China 240 1964
- India 80 1974
- Israel 80 1979
- Pakistan 90 1998
- North Korea 10 2006
“Best of Luck, Nuclear World” builds upon the Indian tradition of wrapping string around Banyan trees for good luck and to make wishes come true. Each day for 9 days, Carol Hummel wrapped this tree in the colors of the flags of the 9 countries that possess nuclear warheads. As the strings are wrapped, the colors weave together to form a colorful fabric, an analogy about the hope that by interweaving our cultures, we can create something of beauty instead of destruction.
Site-specific Installation/ performance
Murali Cheeroth, India
The central premise of my work is urbanization of cities and its interplays with urban cultures and urban ecology explored within the history of visual representation and looking closely at the idea of re-construction; infrastructure; technology, speed and change; intersections of local and the global, multiple layers of urban identities and so on….
The new urban landscape elements like a pile of sand bags causes some physical and psychological obstruction and chaos in the lives of common man. My work attempts to capture that chaosity in urban life.
Vivek Vilasini, India
Louise Paramor, Australia, ‘Six Perfections’
Each piece presents a figurative form linked to a title which offers meaning. The titles refer to states of mind and being in Buddhism: A generous god; A wise animal; A patient ghost; A tormented being making an effort; An ethical human and A demi-god concentrating.
This work pays homage to the Indian fabrics and the art of tailoring.
Anna Macleod, Ireland and Carol Hummel, USA
In an on-going global project, Anna Macleod and Carol Hummel draw attention to the vital importance of water to the survival of humanity in a collaborative postering project entitled “Paani Bachao!” (Save Water!).
By hanging this ubiquitous poster image in public spaces, water becomes an emotive tool to discuss innovative ideas associated with the element of water.
During their stay in Bodhgaya they hung 500 posters in and around town.
Anna Macleod, Ireland, ‘Water Bodies and Spirits | Water Conversations’
This work is an edition of a larger project under the umbrella title of ‘Water Conversations’. The intention of the project is to examine the element of water in a variety of global locations and to question the politics of water access, management and consumption.
In Bodh Gaya, a spiritual site for the Buddhist community ‘Water Conversations’ seeks to discover some of the commonalities of how water is viewed spiritually.
‘Water Bodies and Spirits’ is a wooden sculpture constructed on a pulling rickshaw to form a mobile grotto for water. A solar powered jet of water dances within the structure inviting passers by to engage in conversations about the spiritual associations of water. Embedded within this exchange are questions of individual responsibility towards water, a precious substance with a finite future.
Will future wars be fought over access to water?
Padraig Cunningham and Linda Shevlin, Ireland, ‘Falling Awake‘
Falling Awake is a
single channel high definition video with sound.
See the full film http://padraigcunningham.com/?portfolios=falling-awake
Falling Awake responds to notions of ‘Otherness’ by trying to explore the possibilities of a commonality between two sites through their struggle and desire to attain peace. Shot on location in Belfast Ireland & Bodh Gaya India, the piece takes on the form of a condensed journey or a pilgrimage through what at first appears to be disparate sites but on closer examination, traces of an omnipresent threat that may usurp both their fragile situations permeates the work.
Stephane Tesson, France
This performance is about the paradox between destruction and creation, the conflict within any human life.
Stephane performed wearing a red suite and a hood with a mirror covering my mouth and the back of his head. He threw 77 stars made of plaster with the peace symbol in the middle. The size of each star is of a hand. The stars were thrown on a wall as a ceremonial act where the stars broke and became a pill of white destruction.
Performance