Relevance and introduction of Covenant art during the current changing social scape, worldwide!
We are in the middle of a pandemic, and the general feeling is fear and a negative worldview of our self-state and the world around us is prevalent. But here is where I beg to differ. We are at a time when the belief systems of the human race, has been shattered. Great institutions that we put our faith and trust in for years, like the government, companies we work for and rely on for a living and so also the medical community, has been shattered. And it is in moments and times like these, that we are forced to bring our focus and faith from external factors to what actually lies within. It brings light to the fact that what we truly need is what we already have within us, experiences we have had and learnt from and those on our journey that have shaped us and made us who we are today. Everything we stand for lies in us and at the most in our very immediate environment.
It is the time for being there and for sharing precious moments of our past with our loved ones. There is the question of restriction of physical interaction that we are bound by on and off, and would rather remain cut off, but safe and healthy. The need of the hour is to work around all the difficulties and to understand the motive behind coming together and to do so in new and innovative ways.
Having meaningful connections with loved ones is essential to avoid chaos of expectations from one another. It is very important to question the need of coming together, that is to question what you need from others as well as what others need from you or what you need to give to others. There are several ways of passively connecting with your community, for example, sync watching a movie, sports or art and cultural events, on digital platforms.
It is important to have meaningful interactions that we have with our loved ones, as well as have a specificity and structure in the interactions, again to avoid clashes of expectations. A family friend told me about participating in live cooking sessions, where couples from across the world, who have had a professional relationship, are bonding with each other taking turns to teach recipes of meals authentic to their cultural roots, in an organized and pre-planned format. Each couple gets a turn to showcase their skills and the other couples follow their lead in that session, and learn hidden recipes and about cultures other than their own.
It is also necessary to have conversations one wouldn’t normally have, to adapt to the situation we are all living in. I watched a Ted talk video log about different ways of coming together by an expert and author of The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker. She said that an interesting way of coming together was to organize music and songs highlighted evening. The evening was inspired by Bruce Springsteen’s speech about songs that shaped and represent him through different phases of is life. This group of friends got together to sing and talk about songs that shaped their lives through the years making it a fun and interesting way of sharing and simultaneously letting go of any emotional baggage one may be carrying and faced with. Music is a safe space to understand how to love & accept the environment.
It is important here to note that ground rules are necessary to make such activities a success. Another takeaway is from festivals that we celebrate. Festivals are community activities that have had structure for years.
Take Diwali for example, the same tasks are carried out every year in an organized and structured format, making spending quality time with the family and the community enjoyable. But since the times are different now, the rules of such activities can be tweaked.
Even for a simple video call for work, one could ensure having a backdrop that is a meaningful part of ones personality, and share that with the coworkers, making the interaction more personal and substantial. I have been doing live interviews and live talks about my art, and I try to have artworks in the background of essence. When I spoke about an award that I had won, I stood in front of an artwork that I had created dedicated to my parents.
My grandmother, who lives with us, enjoyed a musical evening with 300 plus guests when her brother and sister-in-law celebrated their anniversary by organizing a live musical evening with band playing their favorite songs for all their family and friends who all logged in and sang along. I heard of a Dj- D Riche who organized a virtual dance event, where requests were taken and participants from each individual homes, moved to the beat, making it democratic event at the door and on the dance floor.
Currently it is a loneliness boom and there are ill effects of isolation. It is important to engage in social activities and there are several ways. It is however important to give structure, and one way to give structure to activities is to give a name to them.
My discovery during lock down was realizing the importance of the little things in life- and how much it had always mattered to me. Being appreciative and grateful for the smaller joys and keeping those at a conscious level within, as shaping force can be sublime. I went on to invent a concept that I named Covenant Art. I decided to dedicate my time with this aspect of life I truly resonate with and translate it as an art form- the artist that I am!
I began by interviewing close family and friends about the little things they tell themselves or remind themselves of subconsciously that keeps them going. Our family surgeon said something so beautiful- Dr. Rohit shah, he constantly tells himself at work that Life after all is in Gods hands. This keeps him humble and grounded. It helps him remain true and authentic to his profession and makes him more efficient too! I translated this aspect and several others of his answers to a well-researched questionnaire, into an artwork- a digital collage artwork.
This piece of art when hung on ones wall encourages self- reflection and is meant to inspire. It is suggestive digital art with respect to promises one makes to oneself pertaining to personal as well as professional goals. It stimulates the subconscious mind in a favorable direction and is a unique expression of which one is. The central message of this concept is about believing in and being in tune with you. Being aware, realizing, remembering and most importantly being proud of whom one is!
This same process can more so be applied to time spent and dedicated to a loved one or ones. For example Surbhi and Alok, who dated for just a couple of weeks in person, and then went to having a long distance committed relationship for a year and half, across the globe and then tied the knot, as soon as lockdown was lifted for a while. I thought of them, and depicted in their artwork, love dragons- those that find meaning in life through one another.
Therefore, engaging in The Covenant Art journey has benefited me and every one several folds, not just as an individual, a group or couple. As someone, who is shy and a bit of an introvert, learning through the experiences of others, who love sharing can be extremely rewarding and a great life learning one interview at a time, I now have live interviews on social media, making my interactions public for anyone to watch and feel inspired by. It is the little everyday moments that are the heroic moments of our life leading to great things. And it is the everyday loving people in our lives that are our true heroes.