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Revolving Histories (#bangbang-1012)

On Every Grain - Performance #1: PROCLAIM
(2019)

https://www.parvez.work
[Parvez] Voeglin, Simon Andy (Eventcurator)
[Parvez] (Camera)

An old proverb in India –
Daane Daane pe likha hai khaane waale ka Naam.
(On every grain is inscribed the name of the person who eats it.)

It implies that whoever eats the food is the one for whom it was meant. Thus, it serves as a guilt-remover of sorts, if one has eaten something that was originally kept for someone else.

In this performance series (comprising of three performances titled 'PROCLAIM', 'PRESERVE' and 'RITUALIZE') Parvez examine this phrase in the global (neo)colonial context of the food growers and the food consumers. A lot of food that is taken for granted by those who have easy access to it, is grown by some of the poorest people in the world in faraway lands. Quite often these food growers do not themselves have enough to eat, in spite of being the cultivators. And, the food they grow with their sweat and blood travels huge distances across the world to be relished by someone else.

The question therefore is, ‘who chooses the names that are inscribed on each grain?'

The three performances in the series resulted in six negative prints that were created with fruits and vegetables from the third world that are commonly available in Switzerland. Each print is also a short text that points to the crux of each performance.
KW Performances

place: Kunstraum Waldhouse, Zürich
KuratorIn: Voeglin, Simon Andy
Dokumentationstyp: Dokumentation einer Performance/Aktion / Documentation of a performance/action

Medium

Video 16:9
Dauer: 11 min