Use Like Water

overview

Use Like Water (2015) is a nine-day performance that begins as a journey and culminates on the upper terrace of Bait Obaid Al Shamsi during the opening days of SB12. Through the work, Nikhil Chopra explores the layers beneath the region’s shiny veneer. By focusing on the positioning of the subject in nature, the artist examines the history of the land and sea and how they have connected people for thousands of years, expanding our understanding of humanity.

During his travels, Chopra, in character as a man of the desert, will spend the majority of his time drawing as a form of documentation and reflection. With most of the performance taking place in relative solitude, the artist questions the definition of the performative act and the spectator’s role in it. The performance begins 26 February, with the artist departing Sharjah on an excursion into the Sharjah desert and on a dhow in the Musandam waters off the Omani coast. Chopra returns to the city 4 March to occupy his exhibition space through 6 March. Over these days, the man of the desert and sea will transform the site and himself, leaving behind remnants of his journey through time and space.

This project was part of Sharjah Biennial 12