The Cube
Gallery in Moira held its first book
release on Saturday, November 4, 2017, with the launch of Tishani Doshi’s new
book of poems, Girls Are Coming Out Of The Woods. Exploring a unique
performance based enactment of her poems, Doshi read out extracts while
performing an experimental dance act. This anthology of poems is a collection
of hard hitting poems, almost clawing its way out of the earth, seeking its
rightful recognition and urgency. With a reference to the brutal gang rape case
in Delhi and the titular poem dedicated to her friend Monica Ghurde, who was
murdered in her home in Goa, Doshi’s haunting words resonate, “Girls are coming
out of the woods, wrapped in cloaks and hoods, carrying iron bars and candles
and a multitude of scars, collected on acres of premature grass and city buses,
in temples and bars.”
Having been a disciple of the legendary choreographer,
Chandralekha, Doshi clearly draws from her passion in dance to her poetry, in
establishing time, rhythm and structure. The anthology speaks of love, decay,
death and poetry. Talking about feminism today, Doshi said, “For so many years,
women did not have the opportunity to tell their stories or make their art and
it is only fairly recently that we did. Feminism is really about the
collective.”
Elaborating on her
wish or desire for the book, Doshi said, “I wish poetry reaches more people. I
want the readers to come out of the woods.”
Befitting of her
work, the poems were read, amidst the backdrop of art made by 8 women artists
as part of Cube Gallery’s show SHE – a celebration of the female spirit.
While
SHE was expressed through the visual arts ranging from charcoal to video and
installation, Tishani’s evening of poetry and performance enlivened and
recharged the space by using the power of the spoken word and the dynamics of rhythm.
The evening was a treat for the audience as these interdisciplinary arts come
together in a revelry of the joyous feminine.
