15/06/2012

What To Build Means?

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What to Build Means?

FULL HD । 21:05 min । 15/06/2012 । Jean-Frédéric Chevallier ।

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It’s playing with the tittle of an essay by Martin Heidegger, What is called thinking? that Jean-Frédéric Chevallier concocted this film-essay. He asked himself the question: what does building a cultural centre in Borotalpada mean? It is a way to accompany the construction process in the Santhal village of West Bengal. The decision to build Trimukhi Cultural Centre was taken by the villagers on Decem­ber 31, 2010. After almost a year of talks —usually in the form of assemblies—, the construction started: a piece of land was chosen, the place was cleaned and a Santal ritual performed. A first draft was marked on the ground with strings and then with ashes. While the construction was going on, other things were also being built: relationships, understandings, discovery of each ones desires, the differences to be enjoyed. French anthropologist Marc Hatzfeld wrote: “The first work of this Centre is the fabric of emotion, intelligence, generosity and dreams that makes this little piece of world shine under the light of a new dawn.

WITH Hector Bourges, Jean-Frédéric Chevallier, Marc Hatzfeld, Bhimcharam Hansda, Dhananjoy Hansda, Motilal Hansda, Salkhan Hansda, Kalicharam Hembrom, Chandrai Murmu, Tirbu Murmu, Alejandro Orosco, Girish Soren

INTERVIEW Marc Hatzfeld

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY Jean-Frédéric Chevallier

PRODUCED BY Sukla Bar Chevallier for Trimukhi Platform

Things began rather simply in 2008 when I directed a performance in collaboration with fifteen Santhal musicians, dancers and actors, a performance initially staged in Borotalpada village and later presented, with the support of the Indian Ministry of Culture, at Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre and Jadavpur University. But rapidly, everything started moving to a new scale. In 2010, a village assembly decided in favour of the construction of a cultural centre where projects such as the 2008 staging (in other words, projects to do with contemporary practice of the arts) could find a forum.

Jean-Frédéric Chevallier




 


première in Paris • France • June 15, 2012
première in Guayaquil • Ecuador • July 24, 2012
première in Borotalpada • India • February 9, 2013
première in La Habana • Cuba • September 30, 2014