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2.17 Evoke
The Kali in Us

Sidhant's Art Journal

My earliest memories come from a place that feels distant now — a village in Shivan district, Bihar, where I spent my childhood years until I was around six. I could run freely, climb mango trees with my friends, pluck mangoes, and bask in the feeling of being connected to the land. The village was quiet and vast, with a stream nearby. Every year, we celebrated Chhath Puja, which spread a spirit of divinity, as the entire community came together to honour the sun.

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My mother, a strong influence in my life, would often speak to me about the Ramayan, not just as a religious text, but as a guide for navigating life. She wove its lessons into everyday conversations, using stories from mythology to make sense of the world around us.

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Then, our entire village moved to Delhi. It felt almost like a "mass migration." Back then, if one person in the village got a government job, the rest would follow. Life in Delhi was different. It was confined. There was little space for free play. We couldn’t roam as we once had. We couldn’t climb trees or wander through fields. Chhath Puja was celebrated, but now it was confined to the terrace of a building, the sense of community much thinner. My mother’s stories, though, stayed with me.

 

This transition, from a place where nature was abundant to one where it was scarce, had a profound effect on me. Nature had once been an endless playground, but now it was something I had to chase. Memories of my childhood, of the fields and the freedom I had, began to fade into the distance, yet the pull to recapture that sense of oneness with the world remained strong. And so, I turned inward. I began to seek ways to reconnect with nature, with that feeling of childhood. But it wasn’t just nature I wanted to understand. It was the destructive relationship between mankind and the environment, something that was growing more apparent.

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Using my body as a medium, I began to enact stories from mythology, reinterpreting them in a contemporary context.

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Brother of Vishnu, 11.7’’x16.5’’, Digital print on archival paper, 2024, Sidhant Kumar

One of my earliest performances was "Brother of Vishnu." It draws from the myth of the Matsya Avatar, in which Vishnu’s first avatar is born as a fish to warn Manu, the first human, about an impending flood that would destroy the world. The fish instructs Manu to fill a boat with essentials — the Vedas, flora, and fauna — to survive the great deluge, known as the Mahapralay, and to ensure the rebirth of the world afterward.

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But in today’s world, what would that boat carry? I believe we are already drowning in a flood of destruction. We are surrounded by non-essentials. If Vishnu were to manifest today and guide us to gather the essentials for our survival, we would fail — because we are consumed by the overwhelming presence of non-essentials that dominate our lives. We have lost sight of what truly matters.

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This thought led me to explore Kali, a rakshasa from Hindu mythology, as my alter ego. Kali, traditionally seen as a fierce and destructive force, represents the primal energy that destroys the old to make space for the new. But in my work, Kali is not just a mythological figure. Kali is within all of us, embodying the part of us that remains passive, the part that doesn’t take action against the destruction of nature because we assume someone else will. Kali is the alter ego that stops me from taking responsibility. Kali is the force that is already in us, manifesting in the degradation of the environment we are witnessing every day.

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Beyond Shadows, Duration: 8.25 minutes, Performance art site : Rani forest division, Assam, 2023, Sidhant Kumar

To bring Kali to life, I created a mask using the traditional Maajuli mask-making techniques. It took me two weeks to construct, each layer representing a different aspect of Kali’s nature.


In my work with the Anga Art Collective, I travelled to Rani Forest Division, located a few hours from Guwahati. The forest was primarily made up of sal trees, a species introduced during colonial times for commercial purposes. Dhruvajeet, a member of the collective, pointed out that these "artificial forests" had severely affected local biodiversity. Elephants, displaced by the monoculture, would often come into the human settlements, destroying fences and eating the stored grains. The performance I created in this space was a satire on the irony of how humans, with their two legs, can leave spaces that no longer serve them, while animals, with four legs, are trapped in these spaces, unable to escape.

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Kali's Sanctum, Size: variable installation, Site: Faculty of Fine Art MSU, Baroda, 2024, Sidhant Kumar

This theme of survival, of adaptation, became central to my work. In one of my pieces, “Kali’s Sanctum”, I created a space that reflected the daily life of Kali. Kali, my alter ego, does not have a home in the traditional sense. In contrast, I gave Kali a house, one filled with everyday objects alongside those from my dreams. There was also a surreal tree in this house, one that I had seen in a dream.

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Surreal Tree, 5x1/2ft

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Kali weaved bamboo into baskets

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This was a representation of a Gram Devta, a local guardian spirit, who in Gujarat is often depicted riding a horse. But in my work, this spirit was placed on a cactus — a metaphor for survival, for adaptation. The cactus is a plant that has evolved to thrive in harsh conditions. It has learned to survive by changing, by adapting.

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Through these works, I have come to realise that we don’t ask enough questions. No one asked why I was creating these works. They assumed it was for aesthetic purposes, to create something beautiful. But the beauty was not the point. The point was to make people question.

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In all my work, whether it’s through performance, installation, or sculpting, I am searching for a way to reconcile my memories of nature with the reality of the world around me. My art is an exploration of the tension between the past and the present, between the destructive tendencies of humanity and the myths that once held the answers. Kali, my alter ego, walks with me through all of this, and in Kali’s presence, I find the courage to continue asking the difficult questions.

Gram Devta, variable wood and terracotta, 2024, Sidhant Kumar

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Interaction – I, Duration : 7:13 minutes, Performance, 2024, Sidhant Kumar

MYSTICETI & FRIENDS

Sidhant is one of the four artists selected for the ART programme, Edition 1, co-curated by Terrain.art and Mysticeti. The programme aims to equip emerging art practitioners from South Asia with the tools to present their work and connect it to broader trends in the art world.

Sidhant Kumar is an artist whose practice focuses on environmental issues and the unsustainable practices that impact our world. Sidhant's approach combines interpretation of mythology and cultural immersion. He uses sustainable materials such as bamboo, clay, and terracotta, alongside art forms like photography, video, installation, and performance. 

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terrain.art is an online platform showcasing emerging physical and digital contemporary art from South Asia. It aims to build a global ecosystem that highlights artistic practices, provides accessible educational resources, and centralises archival processes.

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