Sonia Khurana created Bird in 1999 for her degree at the Royal College of Arts in London. In this short black-and-white video, the artist stands naked on a pedestal – a metaphor of a perch from which she attempts to fly. She stands on tiptoe, struggles to find her balance, tries to flap her wings, leaps but falls to the ground every time. The editing and instability of the camera which follows her body at close range accentuates the sense of movement. This graphics and video montage gives one the idea of derision, of the absurd even, given how improbable it is for this body to take flight like a bird, which gives the work its title. Khurana was born in 1968 in India and works currently in New Delhi in various media, such as video, photography, text, installations and encounters with the public. Through performances using her own body, she addresses the themes of interiority and identity. Therefore she concentrates more on experience rather than representation. While Bird was presented in London as part of her degree, Khurana wanted above all to show her work in India, where the message of this short video assumes full relevance. In her attempts to take off in flight, the artist wants to show how difficult it is to be liberated from her own condition. Literally, the body is at odds with its own flesh and the laws of gravity; similarly as a metaphor, it is difficult for a woman to be free from the rules imposed on her by society. Bird therefore puts forward a critique of the condition of womanhood, showing both the oppression and violence done unto women, as well as the impossibility of being divested of a feminine identity predefined by patriarchal society. Besides, the fact that she presented a nude female body which does not conform to the canons of beauty (notably that of slimness) was interpreted as a provocation in her country of origin. The artist was accused of pornography for displaying the obscenity of an undesired body form. In Europe, the reception of this work was very different and it allowed her to gain ground as an integral part of the emerging generation of Indian artists. After two years at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, she exhibited in Europe, and in the United States at the exhibition Global Feminisms in Brooklyn in 2007. She has also organised workshops in Cameroon. Khurana is clearly in the company of other female artists who create works with their own bodies to better question the idea of sexual difference, as well as representations of femininity.

Diane-Sophie Girin
Translated by Yin Ker