Tushar Joag rode from Mumbai to Shanghai on his trusty bike to spread awareness about those displaced by big dams, resulting in an usual exhibition.
Tushar Joag is the kind of artist who takes his art beyond galleries into the public sphere. A year ago, on being invited to participate in an Indo-China cultural congregation of contemporary art, Joag set out on a “performative journey” on his motorcycle “Rocinante” — named after Don Quixote’s steed.
“I was invited to the Place Time Play: India China Contemporary Art, to present something which engages the Chinese. But it had to be a message conveyed to them without the intervention of the West,” says Joag (45), at the NCPA, where he held a presentation and a discussion organised by the Mohile Parikh Center. The public intervention artist began his journey on August 23 last year, riding 9,624 km over 53 days from Bombay to Shanghai via Sardar Sarovar and the Three Gorges Dam, to create awareness about the people displaced by dams in India as well as China. Joag rode for nine hours every day through parts of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh before crossing high-altitude terrain in Nepal to finally enter China. Throughout his journey, Joag chronicled his trials and tribulations (of negotiating inclement weather and new territories), and overwhelming emotion (of visiting the submerged adivasi villages) in his blog. Joag lost access to his blog after entering Tibet, due to censorship. But he continued to update it by sending e-mails to his wife, artist Sharmila Samant, who posted it on the website. Paraphernalia — including spare parts, maps and pictures collected during the trip — were showcased at an installation in Shanghai, as was his battered Rocinante.
“I’m neither an adventurer nor a biker. In fact, I was riding a bike after 23 years. I had also never ridden a bike with a side car (used essentially for storing warm clothes and spare bike parts). I practiced on it for two days before taking off. But it was hard work during the trip as the side car kept dragging to the left so I needed to constantly balance this with a push with my right hand,” says Joag who graduated from Sir JJ School of Arts, Mumbai and did his MFA from MS University in Baroda, where he is now a visiting faculty.
A couple of months ago, Joag incarcerated himself for six days in a tiny space measuring 150 centimetre by 91 meters. In the cabin, he had a desk, chair and a notebook in which, like a child punished by his teacher for failing to do his homework, he wrote incessantly “I will not lose faith in Indian Judiciary and democracy”. In this season of cynicism, you might consider sitting with a notebook like Joag, jotting down whatever you are losing faith in. Who knows, it might turn out to be a cathartic exercise. For Joag though, it might take many more “performative journeys” on Rocinante to purge cynicism out of his system and his art.
