Nachchi Samayama (Time of the queers)- a contemporary performance
Nachchi – A regional term that recognizes the umbrella notion of the term “queer”. Originating from Sri Lanka‘s Southern region, commonly used by the Sinhala-speaking folk, the term traces back to the early traditions and rituals in which queer individuals participated. Some say the origination of the term derived from the performers, or enactors who were part of the ceremonial curative dance practices of the Kolama tradition.
Samayama – A Term used in the ritualistic possessions that signify a period when an entity or cosmic intervention might occur. For example, the period when the black prince entity (Kalu Kumara) will be at its highest energy form is known as “Kalu Kumara Samayama”.
“ A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not working glancing at”
( Oscar Wilde – The Soul of Man under Socialism)
In Heteronormative cultures, queer bodies and territories in past, present, and future contexts are non-existing. Therefore this contemporary performance is a reclamation from traditional ritual, mapping new narratives of communal existence.
This creation draws parallels to the mythical space of divinity in traditional ritual, the “Black prince”, and the queer embodiment. The ritual, a space for offering well as connectivity, can be interpreted as carrying fragments of the queer body.
I have created an assemblage setting of mutated sculptures or “abject objects”. These sculptures resonate with the structure of ritual palaces and “piddeni” (offerings) built during the “ Kalu Kumara Samayam” (the ritual of the Black prince). In the contemporary performance, these sculptures personify a wide range of witnesses, testimonial beings of the temporal existence.
In this contemporary performance, three bodies are inspired by the traditional curative/ healing ritual. “ Aathuraya” or the ailed person here are the bodies, narratives of the participants/witnesses, and the territory that temporally exists during the performance. “ Entity”- The Black Prince becomes the main protagonist of the performance. “Adura” is the healer or the one who is the mediator conducting the healing ritual.
Image of the original Piddeniya or offering space.
Pandals are created called ” Palaces” where the Black Prince becomes the main protagonist of the performance.
In this contemporary performance, two bodies are inspired by the traditional curative/ healing ritual:
“Aathuraya” or the ailed person here are the bodies, and narratives of the participants/witnesses during the performance.
“Entity”- The Black Prince becomes the main protagonist of the performance.
I have deliberately queered both bodies, celebrating the Black Prince as the healer who gives strength to the ailing, who celebrates queerness and affirms community
“The Entity – The Black Prince”
Passing through the doorway the queer bodies encounter each other………….
“Athuraya” – Ailed person
Who needs to be cured ………
A speculative reclamation of the subversive omnipresence of queer existence within spaces, rituals, and trajectories
I have been born as a regeneration of this land
A Mutant of many pains
Blasphemy
Seeking for salvation
Surging for belonging
This land is not mine, mother!
This land is not mine!
I write these words while reading the writings of James Baldwin’s “From the Fire Next Time” Quotes of Tah Nehisi’s words from the memoir addressed to his son, ‘ Between the World and Me’ was about the complexities of growing up as another generation of black men in the land known as United states.
“ To awaken ( the dreamers) is to reveal that they are an empire of humans and like all empires of humans, built on the destruction of the body, plunder of racialized bodies by telling itself a historical narrative that erases that history in the name of an illusory ideal of progress ”
I think about the further injustice committed on minorities by telling a historical narrative that erases their histories in the name of ‘progress’.
Sri Lanka’s deadpan struggle after 30 years of civil war further downplayed the civilians. Caused economic depression and extensive militarization led to mass revolts that reverberated around the country in the year 2022. Amidst the chaos, minorities and many groups of people fluxed to one platform seeking justice. Large masses gathered at these protests finally heard their voices at the demonstrations. Individuals cognitively formed networks of alliances that paved the way for the first-ever public pride March, modeled as a form of protest.
Queer identity is still under scrutiny and criminalization according to the law governed within the country. Many organizations were formed( Equal Ground, Equity, Transgender Network, Queer Sangam)also laws were reformed to provide better conditions for the Queer community. Society continues ostracizing these individuals of this minority community that grapples continuously to survive.
This led to my ongoing research on relocating the existence of queer beings in Southern ritualistic traditions that prevailed in Sri Lanka to create a space that reveals our erased layers of bodies, in the form of sculptural, performative, queer, ritualistic processions. In so doing, the community transforms the ailment into a celebration and an affirmation.
