Preview: ‘Hallucinations of an Artifact’ in New Delhi | a Co-creation project

‘Hallucinations of an Artifact’. Photo credit: Sidharth Sarcar

How does an ancient artifact think, move and respond to the current times? By bringing the Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-Daro (c. 2300-1750 BCE) to life through dance and artificial intelligence, ‘Hallucinations of an Artifact’ choreographically disrupts simplistic narratives around this irreverently playful and notoriously unclassifiable artifact.

‘Hallucinations of an Artifact’ is a collaboration between choreographer Mandeep Raikhy and visual artist Jonathan O’Hear. The two worked together previously on a production called Queen Size. ‘Hallucinations of an Artifact’ is supported by the Co-creation grant.*

Choreographer: Mandeep Raikhy

Mandeep is a dance practitioner with a particular interest in exploring the intersections between dance creation, performance, research, and pedagogy. He studied BA (Hons) in Dance Theatre at Laban, London, between 2002-05. He toured with Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company, London between 2005 and 2009. Mandeep’s choreographic work has been preoccupied with exploring the relationship between choreographic practice and political resistance. Over the last decade, he has created several works that have posed questions around gender, sexuality, religious belief and nationalism particularly focusing on ways in which the body is both shaped by and is in conflict with these constructs. Mandeep has created several dance works, notably Inhabited Geometry (2010), a male ant has straight antennae (2013), and Queen-size (2016) and Anatomy of Belief (2019). These works have travelled across the country and internationally over the years including Kampnagel, South Bank Centre, and Singapore International Arts Festival. Between 2009-2019, Mandeep has been Managing Director at Gati Dance Forum, where he has worked to develop a supportive environment for contemporary dance in the country through projects as diverse as residencies, festivals, publications, and advocacy initiatives. He taught as Assistant Professor at the MA Performance Practice (Dance) at Ambedkar University, Delhi, between 2018-20.

Visual artist and Environment: Jonathan O’Hear

As a multidisciplinary artist, Jonathan’s work is often experiential and technological. In 2022 he founded the association de Malfaiteurs with Brice Catherin (an artistic collective of two plus their guests). In 2021 he founded and directed the AiiA festival with Laura Tocmacov (A festival focusing on the arts and culture of Artificial Intelligence). At the end of 2017 he launched the Dai project, (an artificial intelligence performance robot), presented in Switzerland, Ireland and India. The project is ongoing. Between 2013 and 2018 he was the co-artistic director of the contemporary dance company Neopost Foofwa where he co-created the Utile/Inutile project (2015-2017, with Foofwa d’Imobilité). His work has been shown at the CCS – Paris, Musée Tinguely – Basel, Villa Bernasconi – Geneva, Fonderie Kugler – Geneva, Médiathèque de Biarritz, Fluxum – Geneva, Analix Forever – Geneva, CAC – Geneva (with Ensemble Vide), Max Mueller – Delhi (with Mandeep Raikhy), and the Science art gallery – Dublin. He also gives workshops around the world on the use of space and light as an artistic medium.

*This project was realised with the support of the Co-creation grant. This grant is offered to artistic practices that result from previous exchanges between artists and collectives from the Pro Helvetia liaison offices and Switzerland.