In Conversation with model turned artist, Tinu Verghis on creating a collaborative space for women artists in Goa

Tell us a bit about The Art Farm, what was the process of bringing it to life.
I grew up in a village in Kerala, where chilli, okra, melons, moringa, yam, ivy gourd etc grew abundantly all year around and banana trees lined up as walls and pineapple bushes were the divider fence. There were always dried seeds drying and pouches of newspapers with dried seeds on the kitchen table. My mother grew every seed she could lay her hand on. She would show me how the seeds had to be placed in the soil, knowing every seed has a top and a bottom. Some seeds need to be soaked in water before planting, some seeds need to be planted fresh from the fruit, some seeds need to be dried before they are planted. Some seeds sprout in a day, some sprout in a week and some sprout after a month. Every seed is different. We collect and save seeds and we plant them according to the rise and fall of the moon. The seeds that we sow, can grow only with just the right care. The crux is too much care or too little care. Traditional knowledge teaches us the fine art of balancing ourselves with nature.

For years my farm in Goa was a place where I would find my peace away from the city life and have been growing beans, chillies, turmeric and rice which I use for my performances. Apart from that it was always open for friends and community to just come into nature and be one with nature and enjoy eating clean unprocessed food and calm their senses through nature walks and finding their mind body balance.

The pandemic has taken a toll on women to a large extent, with an increase in sexual abuse and domestic violence. I felt the need to offer women a place, away from the male gaze, to come together and create as a community.

The Art Farm came to life with the first Art Camp in collaboration with the School of Disobedience (France), as a socially engaged, sustainable community art project, on the intersection of performance, informal education, research and women empowerment. In order to liberate ourselves from fears, transgress our boundaries, go beyond our limits and push ourselves out of our own comfort zone, we need to be confident of who we are. This camp offers the tools to defy self-doubt and fearlessly follow one’s own path. Women need to extricate themselves from the powerless group that society has subjected and forced them into. Women have the power to create subversion of the patriarchal language due to their existing position in the psychoanalytical model of subject construction.

We started the Open Call for the Art Camp a few days ago and the response has been tremendous. The motivational letters we have received from  participants have proven that this camp is needed at this juncture now more than ever.

What were the challenges that you faced, especially in the face of the current pandemic?

Due to the pandemic, fundraising has been a challenge. But I chose to do the empowerment camp at this juncture even though I knew about the financial constraints because we need a project like this now more than ever. Women and artists have been affected by this pandemic to a great extent. Domestic and sexual violence have multiplied. Established artists are looking for day jobs to survive. Young, amateur artists have had no avenues for their artistic pursuits and depression became prevalent.

What drew you to the people participating in this? Did you know them beforehand or were these souls you admired and instinctively reached out to?

I met the School of Disobedience team in June last year in Hungary and participated in one of their intensives and it was mind blowing. I loved their critical thought process and their process of challenging and confronting stereotypes. They are a fight club, they use guerilla tactics and they promote community building. They are perceptive, empathetic and they are present at all times with the participants. The quality of their program was exceptional.

I have also worked with Shivani from HH Art Space, Goa. She is a phenomenal artist. I am interested in using classical Indian dance tableaus along with contemporary dance movements for the Art Camp. 

Under My Skin, Tinu Verghis

Give us a brief glimpse into your journey in life. Any particular thing that stands out?

I worked as a fashion model for 15 years. I have been a showstopper for every major Indian designer (Sabyasachi, Tarun Tahiliani, Rohit Bal, Varun Bahl, JJ Valaya etc). I quit the industry at the peak of my career to pursue art as an avenue to challenge the systemic oppression of women in society. I did my post graduation in Visual Arts at Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore. I have won the Winston Oh Travel and Research Award and the Presidents award at the International Biennial of Contemporary Art in Italy, for my work Under My Skin. I use the rice I grow at my farm for this particular performance.

I am a government certified farmer. I grow rice over half an acre of land. I reap a yearly harvest of 1 tonne of rice. I use organic means to cultivate and I use the inputs from the land, to mulch and I use the excrement of my farm animals for fertilizing. I focus on crop rotation to keep the soil nutrient rich. I don’t sell my rice but I barter. The capitalistic model of exchange of goods would be reductionism. It dismisses my contribution towards a sustainable practice of growing food and sharing it with others.

In order to create a deeper empathy for food, I have been offering experiential learning to kids from one of the Goan schools by teaching them to plant rice. Every year children from The Learning Center in Goa come with their parents and spend the whole day planting rice. The children also get to eat the rice they planted 4 months later. The journey, the wait, the loss, the gain, the taste all play a role in understanding the stages of cultivation and learning about the important role of nature in providing us food.