Borders, Barbed Wires, Helpless Faces: Bangladeshi Artist Moves Viewers to Tears

KOCHI:
Inside a space smaller than a kennel made of four bamboo posts and surrounded by barbed wire, a woman in torn clothes stretches out her hands seeking help. At, one of the main venues of the, none of the onlookers initially step forward to help. Finally, when one person reaches out and holds her hands, the woman leans against the barbed wire with a sense of exhausted relief.

The performance artwork The Touch, presented by Bangladeshi artist and Biennale participating artist Yasmin Jahan Nupur, emotionally overwhelmed viewers. Through this work, she seeks to convey how human beings are confined within cages created by borders, barbed wire fences, and surveillance cameras.

Yasmin explained that even if someone crosses the barbed wire border from Bangladesh into India, they often find themselves trapped within another fenced enclosure. No matter how vast borders may seem, they remain cages. During the one-hour-long performance, her entire body was scratched and wounded by barbed wire. She noted that this was the first time she had presented this particular performance. She performed barefoot, dressed in a white shirt and black trousers.

She pointed out that the human mind within borders is as torn and fragmented as the clothes she wore.

She said she had expected more people from the audience to step forward to rescue her. Many viewers appeared to have the desire to help reflected on their faces. However, she remarked that this hesitation mirrors society’s general response toward helpless and vulnerable people.

All of Yasmin’s performances challenge the concept of borders. In a previous work, she stood silently for six hours at the India–Bangladesh border holding a peace flag. She described the opening of the border gates before her after six hours as a powerful testament to contemporary art.

Nikhil Chopra, curator of the sixth edition of the Biennale, said Yasmin’s performance was deeply thought-provoking and emotionally intense. He noted that viewers were left wondering why someone would endure such pain for art. He added that no human being is untouched by pain. According to him, this marks the difference between theatre and performance art; the sweat, blood, and pain in performance art are real, not acted. He emphasized that society must recognize that life is not a journey across a bed of roses.

At the Biennale, Yasmin Jahan’s artwork Black Gold is also exhibited at 111 Markaz Cafe. The work reveals the economic and political histories of pepper that have evolved over centuries.