Dhiraj Rabha

This Foundation Project implemented by IFA under Productions will artistically investigate into the notions of home, displacement and identity of a people and a place as explored within the collective memory of the inhabitants of a camp set for surrendered members of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) in Assam. Dhiraj Rabha is the Coordinator for this project. 

Dhiraj Rabha is a visual artist based in Santiniketan. He has a Masters in Fine Arts from the Visva Bharati University. He was on the final shortlist for the Rhodes Scholarship India in 2021. His art works have been exhibited in Santiniketan and Delhi. The Alkazi Theatre Archive Theatre Photography Grant 2021 gave Dhiraj a special mention for his work Blurred Hymn. Given his experience, he is best placed to be the Coordinator of this Foundation Project of IFA. 

The ULFA is an armed separatist organisation that seeks to establish Assam as an independent sovereign nation-state. Their struggle has been to reclaim indigenous heritage, pride and freedom for the Assamese people. The government of India banned the organisation in 1990. In 1992, a large group of high-ranking leaders and members of ULFA surrendered to the Indian government. They are referred to as the Surrendered ULFA – SULFA. However, while they were disarmed by the government, they were not given any protection or means of defense against retaliation from their earlier associates. 

Dhiraj’s family moved from their ancestral village home to a SULFA settlement in the Goalpara district in Assam, about 20 years ago. Like them, several other inhabitants of the camp have always kept their pride and sought a safe place to live. However, long years of living in fear and anxiety have led to conditions of post-traumatic stress disorder among several community members. Recently, during the pandemic, the government planned to evacuate the settlement and this has once again heightened anxiety and fear among the residents. 

Against this background of deep uncertainty, this project will attempt to artistically recreate the idea of 'home' for the community members, through an engagement with their memories, narratives, and everyday objects. This engagement will entail research-based documentation and archiving of different stories from the community. Textual and visual materials in archives, libraries, books, newspapers and photographs that carry details about the insurgency from different sources, along with physical meetings and interviews with ex-ULFA members and their families, will form the foundation of this project. This research phase will be followed by the production phase where a site-specific installation will be created. 

The installation will be developed from intimate interactions with the community through a workshop process. From Dhiraj's initial research, the idea of a safe home has emerged as an important theme within the community. Drawing from this thought, Dhiraj plans to create an installation of four hundred distorted homes with metal bitumen drums which are used in road construction. The installation will carry engravings of the community's statements, aspirations, struggles and visions of 'home'. Large scale walls will be used for large drawings and to display data and archival findings. Conversations with the community will be central to this project. In a participative mode, the communities within and outside the settlement will be brought into a dialogic space to facilitate a deeper engagement and understanding with each other’s narratives and positions. For this purpose, the settlement which will have the installation will be thrown open to public on the days of the exhibition. As for audiences for the exhibition, Dhiraj hopes to invite SULFA members with their families, resource persons, public from surrounding villages and art practitioners to generate diverse conversations at the site about home and belonging. 

The outcome of the project will be the site-specific installation. The Project Coordinator's deliverables to IFA along with the final report will be audio-visual documentation of the entire process and of the resulting installation. 

As an insider to the settlement, Dhiraj's own art practice has been shaped by the community and its relationship with the state. This project suitably addresses the framework of IFA’s Arts Practice programme by enabling Dhiraj to expand his practice in new directions. By unravelling of unspoken histories and public memories around the Assam conflict, the project will contribute significantly to our understanding of the many unknown dimensions of this past. 

IFA will ensure that the implementation of this project happens in a timely manner and funds expended are accounted for. IFA will also review the progress of the project at midterm and document it through an Implementation Memorandum. After the project is finished and all deliverables are submitted, IFA will put together a Final Evaluation to share with Trustees. 

This project is made possible with support from Sony Pictures Entertainment Fund.