Wild Domestication
Introduction :
national park :
noun
An area set aside by a national government for the preservation of
the natural environment. A national park may be set aside for
purposes of public recreation and enjoyment or because of its
historical or scientific interest.
At the very initial definition the idea of confinement itself grabs my
concern upon the existence of natural ecosystems. I believe in
today’s context the idea of natural ecosystem does not fit to any of
the existing National Parks or protected areas. The level of human
interventions we have introduced for the conservation and
protection have pushed the natural ecosystems into a grey area.
Being from a locality of a National Park, my concerns were seeded
when I observed a natural cycle/process of floods transformed into a
crisis. Example : Floods in case of Kaziranga is its natural cycle of
survival for the wetland ecosystem present there but with climate
change this cycle has transformed into a crisis now.
Proposal
On similar accounts Gir where the conservation methods of lions are
pushing them further into living in co-existence yet a conflict with the
people.
What is making the lions of Gir move closer to human settlements ?
At what cost of transformation does conservation comes in ?
Is domestication a part of co-existence ?
With the above concerns in mind, this project aims to create a body of
work consisting of photographs and moving image aiming to speculate
upon the two realities which exist in Gir.
This project is also one of my Design Project at National Institute of Design.
Curated Exhibition :
Artist Statement :
Wild Domestication
Boundaries never existed for the lions of Gir. We tried to
impose our shadow authority over them by means our conservation.
Yet the conservation methods of lions are pushing
them further into living in co-existence yet a conflict with the
people. Wild Domestication is a body of work speculating over
this cycle of coexistence and conflict in Gir.
Sumit Saikia is a lens based multimedia artist. His work revolves
around the thematic of land and wildlife
