Kochi, IND

I land: emotion.
Humidity.
Greens, dew, blues, rain, pinks, yellows, reds, soaking wet. Your senses can’t escape from the enticements of reality, wrapped in fabrics, papers and walls or in figures, drawings and photographs.
Tuk-tuk.
Shouts, honking, music, singing, uproar, laughter, greetings, smiles, they are other ways of entering into their reality.
Masala.
Cinnamon, curry, coriander, pepper, turmeric, ginger, cumin, rust, spices. All of the scents are magnificent. Authenticity.
Bowls.
Thali, lentils, softly spicy, chapati, spicier, yogurt, very spicy, rice, spicy that burns, saffron, tearfully spicy, fish. Delicious delicacies which, in their intensity, remind you where you are.
Silk.
Pattu, sarees, bright colored garments, ragu, outrageous patterns, soft and cool linens. Touch is sublimated by their extreme softness.
Rotting.
Dirt, filthy atmospheres that drag you down to the ground, stench. A rhapsody of smells that surround you from the very first second.
Myths.
Magic natures, Hinduist natures, daily life, jinas, sacred trees, Muslims, Saint Theresa, Catholics, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Jews, temples, masters. A real harmony of cultures.
Public.
Cricket, children, adults, hockey, improvised playing fields, non-existent public space, football, smiles, gratitude, misery carried with dignity. Signs of happiness. Thresholds, domestic and religious, public spaces.
Home.
Street, lineage, room, dream, race, blood, garden, daily life, veneration, altars, chaos. Wildlife inside houses.
Nature.
Urban environment, monsoon, tributaries, contamination, mangroves, infrastructures, sanitation, giant peepal trees, trash. The universe flows arrhythmically.
I take off: commotion.
The West.
Nostalgia for a little bit of beautiful disaster.

These photographs, taken in Kochi in 2014, are part of the project “India: Going Places,” an artistic concept by Robert D’Souza, Sunil Manghani, Jordi Bernadó and Ricardo Devesa for the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2016. This project is supported by the Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton.