Debashish Paul’s ‘A Thousand Years of Dreaming’

Emami Art opens its doors for contemporary artist Debashish Paul’s solo exhibition, ‘A Thousand Years of Dreaming.’ Curated by Mario D’Souza, this exhibition is Paul’s first solo at the gallery. The preview will be held on 6th September at 4 PM, followed by a curatorial walkthrough at 6:30 PM. The exhibition will be on display until 26th October 2024.

The artworks presented are a profound exploration of queer desires and identities within the socio-political landscape of small towns. The exhibition features works, including performance stills, drawings, and sculptures, all centred around Paul’s film ‘Hazaro Saalon ka Sapna.’ He elaborated on the challenges of marginalization and stigma, viewed through his personal and romantic experiences.  Herein mask and costume along with ritual and play become devices for coming to terms with the complexity of leading double lives as queer men, concealing their identities from their families and society.

Paul claims, “Over the past few years, I have connected with queer individuals from rural areas who come to the city for education while concealing their sexual identities. Interviews with them reveal a deep fear of coming out due to societal pressures. Many feel trapped, planning to marry women to satisfy family expectations, reflecting the strong family bonds in India. Through my work, I aim to highlight these personal and societal struggles, drawing from my experiences to advocate for a more fluid and inclusive society, while respecting cultural and ritualistic contexts. By engaging with history and mythology, particularly through the lens of Banaras, I envision a future where my personal relationships and artistic expressions reveal the hidden aspects of my true self, blending love, sorrow, pain, dreams, and imagination.”

Set in Benares, the artist and his lover meet on the banks of the Ganges in a two-segment film. The first is an enactment of a distant, seemingly impossible ritual akin to a marriage between two men, stemming from the societal and familial pressure faced by queer men in smaller towns and cities to marry women. Complete with a wedding band and a white horse, the barely dressed protagonists are adorned in flowers – their bare bodies in intimate proximity. The second segment follows the process of masking and shedding, washing and soaking, frustration and exhaustion amongst other states resulting from this concealment of sexual identities and constant posturing. The metaphors are sometimes direct, like that of cleaning oneself because of a sensation of impurity or gasping for breath under a false, thick-skinned mask body.

As per Richa Agarwal, CEO of Emami Art, “Debashish Paul is one of the most promising contemporary artists we work with. This is his first solo show which is curated by Mario D’Souza, showcasing his recent works, including a performance film, drawings, sculptural dress, objects and photographs. I have seen Debashish Pauls’s works since his early career, and he has grown up to be one of the strong contemporary voices of performance art in India. He is an inspiration for many young and emerging artists, and this will be a great opportunity to get a closer and elaborate engagement with his artistic practice and to know the artist more.”

Debashish Paul’s drawings abstract the body and its concealing garments into stretched, fantastical bodies that are man, animal, limb and cloth. Using material used in devotional sculptures and as adornment, Paul’s repositions and codes these pariah beings as sacred.

Ushmita Sahu, Director & Head Curator of Emami Art speaks of working with Debashish Paul as “an incredibly rewarding experience.” She adds, “His first solo exhibition, ‘A Thousand Years of Dreaming,’ is a profound exploration of queer identity within a heteronormative society. Debashish’s work delves into the complexities of love, identity, and societal expectations, blending performance, film, photography, drawing, and sculpture to create a narrative that is both deeply personal and universally resonant. The tension he captures between the need to conceal and the desire to express is truly powerful. This exhibition is not just a showcase of his artistic abilities but also a compelling statement on the human condition.”

About Debashish Paul

Debashish Paul, a multidisciplinary artist born in 1994 in the Nadia district of West Bengal, explores the problems of queer identity in a society dominated by heterosexual norms. Paul graduated with a B.F.A. in Sculpture from the Indian College of Art and Draftsmanship Kolkata, and an M.F.A. in Sculpture from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi in 2019 and 2021 respectively. Paul has exhibited and performed nationally and internationally in Spain, the UK, Dubai, Germany, New Delhi, Sri Lanka, France, Kochi, and Kolkata.

Debashish Paul lives and works in Varanasi and Nadia, West Bengal.  

About Mario D’Souza

Mario D’Souza is a curator and writer based between Goa, Kochi, and New Delhi, India. He is on the curatorial team for the Kochi-Muziris Biennale and is Director of Programmes and Exhibitions at the Kochi Biennale Foundation. His research interests include the Indian Ocean and Silk Road imaginaries, non-alignment and the nation-building project, performance cultures and aesthetics of dissent; legal and extra-legal systems, evidence, and truth modalities.

About Emami Art

Emami Art is a leading Indian contemporary art gallery and a platform for cultural production. Established in 2017 in Kolkata, Emami Art represents emerging, mid-career and established artists and organises a dynamic programme of exhibitions and public seminars. Since its inception, the gallery has curated and hosted intimate and large-scale exhibitions and regularly participates in national and international art fairs and conferences.

Feature Image: Still from the film ‘A Thousand Years of Dreaming’; Image Courtesy – Emami Art

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