KATHMANDU:

She cannot take it any longer; the frustration within her is about to erupt. She wants to end the dilemma created by difference that exists between her true self and the roles that society has defined for her. This is what Asmina Ranjit brought out through her performance titled ‘Search interdefinite: No results were found’ on August 24. Held at the Mandarin palace in Baber Mahal Revisited the performance, which was around one and half hour, long Ranjit tried to bring out the hidden feelings and experiences of a woman.

She aptly used tika — an important symbol of Nepali woman — in her act. The way she kept changing tika to find the one that suits her the best or that defines her personality in the perfect manner depicted the situation of a woman where she not only wants to look beautiful but also tries to find her true identity.

Ranjit successfully depicted the suppressed pain and anguish of a woman who has always been trying to abide by the rules and norms allocated by the society but at the same time she wants to break all the restrictions and be herself.

According to her the space that lies between the things that are described is the interdefinite space and it is also where she works or what drives her. In this performance she is talking about ephemeral self, which has been experienced but has not been talked about or even expressed. The whole concept of the act was to bring to surface the battle between your own desires and the expectations of others.

An installation art by Narayan Pd Bohaju was also exhibited at the front courtyard of Baber Mahal. Titled ‘An eye in the object’ according to the artist the creation is trying to say that even objects have feelings. By using light bulbs with eyes painted on them Bohaju is depicting that objects that human use are not silent they are actually staring in pain though they don’t speak they are thinking about freedom. — HNS