Belated

Mohini Chandra's work deals with articulations of identity and globalised spaces, and the role of the photographic in relation to memory and migration. Her research-led practice is fuelled by a sustained interest in photographic histories and the processes of visual culture within colonial, anthropological and ethnographic discourses.

In spring 2020 Autograph commissioned Chandra to create a new artwork in response to the wider context of the Covid-19 pandemic for our project Care | Contagion | Community — Self & Other. In Belated (2020), language, dance and cultural traditions are woven together in a poetic short film – inspired by the silenced bells of Chandra's local church in the historic rural market town of Totnes in the South West of England.

During her daily walks along the River Dart, Chandra experienced an intensified appreciation of nature and began to look into local histories which led her to nearby Dartington Hall, an estate that once welcomed the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore during the early 20th century. Replacing the church bells – fallen silent under lockdown – with the recorded chime of ankle bells performed remotely by a classical Indian dancer, Chandra emphasises the connection between her immediate surroundings and her wider cultural heritage.

To contextualise Chandra’s new artist commission, Autograph invited curator Sushma Jansari to write a short essay reflecting on the poetics of Belated and how this time of change may impact on our past, present and future. This text is published alongside an in-depth conversation between the artist and Autograph's curatorial project manager Bindi Vora.