Water Conversations - Bodh Gaya, India 2011

Water Bodies and Spirits

Sculpture intervention, discursive space and site of exchange. Converted pulling rickshaw, painted wooden construction, blue nylon cord, solar powered water pump, water.

A project for Buddha Enlightened 2-be International Artist project. Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India. Jan – Feb 2011. Supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, Dublin Institute of Technology and the office of the Chief Minister of the State of Bihar, India.
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 on the spiritual associations of water. Embedded within this exchange are questions of individual responsibility towards water, a precious substance with a finite future.

With thanks to assistants: Jaya Saxena, Ajit Kumar Singh, Mumba Raju, Akhilesh Gaur, Mohit Kant Mishra. Photographers: Padraig Cunningham, Anna Macleod, Akhilesh Gaur, Carol Hummel.