In 2001, I participated in an extremely well funded Australia Council project called TramJatra. This amazing project driven by a group of tram nutters( I am one) known as Gunzels and Artist(I am one), set out to create a friendship between Melbourne and Kolkata based on trams systems. The project included a group of writers, film makers, architects, artists, designers, engineers, activists, educators and trammies from both cities. The aim of this cross cultural collaboration in both cities was through art and activism to create situations, events and art works that would highlight the importance of tramways to these cities wellbeing.
Whilst in Kolkata I developed and performed a daily performance in area of Kolkata known as the Howrah Bridge Terminus. The area was an extremely busy area, squeezed up against the river bank with it pontoons for ferries and cremation grounds. The terminus-performance area intersected with vehicles crossing the bridge and coming into the city. I choose this area as the tram line had once travelled over this bridge and over the impressive expanse of the Hooghly River to the train station on the other side. On this site many things crossed the bridge trucks, cars, taxis, people, but one of the more amazing encounters where herds of goats on their way to be sacrificed to the Goddess Kali’s at one of the many temples dedicated to her in the city. Yeap… Kolkata is Kali’s town and she takes no prisoner. Her divine lover Shiva lives up the river in city dedicated to him known as Varanasi-Benares, important for death rituals. Both places are amazing.
The performance was approved by the City of Kolkata and only once was I asked by the Police what was I doing. I showed a letter saying I could do this and off I went. So each day I was allowed to walk along busy sections of roadway sometimes ducking taxis, trucks and goats to disperse metres of colour, sometimes up to 500m long sections of magic pigment, red, green, blue, purple. I remember at one stage just completing a very long section of bright green and then hearing the traffic police blow whistle to let traffic enter the road way. It was amazing to see the cars tyres wheel over the work and away went green pigment through the city like green vains being drawn into the city.
The use of coloured pigment was inspired by my previous journey to India a year before, where on my last day I witnessed the beginning of Holi Festival. I had to catch a flight that night so missed the full blast of wild chaotic celebration that involves bags of colour mixed with water being thrown at everything, people, cars, birds, cows, buildings…. the world gets smashed in colour.
The name of the work suggest that the tram itself is a sacred vehicle. Buddhist and Hindu texts refers to the Gods and Goddesses as having their own magic vehicle such an animals or an element. To me these trams, these machines are magical and are the vehicles of ever day gods and goddesses of Kolkata, the people. Travelling in a tram in Kolkata is wonderful. It is amazing system that takes you to temples, crops, and works shops.
In making the work I was struck by the tram intersections and junctions, the cross overs that create a rattle and bang as trams transition from one section of the network to the next. Many of the junctions throughout the city form what are known as diamond junctions. So I decide to relate the ordinary with the sacred. The name of the work gets its name from the diamond junction and Diamond Sutra.The diamond sutra is an important text concerned with perfecting wisdom.
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