Archana Hande | Artist | Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2022-23

"I'm creating a temple with things which people have thrown and also calling it 'Bhoota Sthana'. But in my main thing (main artwork) is My Kottige, in Kannada. For the first time in my life, I have used my mother tongue. Kottige, it is my own space." - Archana Hande.

For the installation My Kottige (Bhoota Sthana), Hande has welded together this discarded body building equipment from Garadi Mane, sculpting it into totem-like pillars and jharokhas. These sculptures structurally support a new urban Bhoota Sthana - a shrine to protect the environment from the nazar of contemporary social conflicts between genders, classes, castes and sexual identities. The viewer cannot enter the shrine, and must peer through its windows in order to experience Hande's offering to the drunkard spirit-god.

Archana Hande’s artwork is currently displayed at Aspinwall House, Fort Kochi. The Kochi-Muziris Biennale curated by Shubigi Rao, open until 10th April 2023.

Video Lab Support- Kiran Nadar Museum of Art

Bangalore footage courtesy: Santhosh N Pattar