Inside a dark room in Kochi, visitors are learning about the hard life of farmers. The air feels smoky, and there are bales of straw for people to sit on. This is where artist Kulpreet Singh is showing his art, a project called Indelible Black Marks.
Kulpreet is a farmer from Punjab. He uses film and paintings to show how farming has changed over the years. His art tells a story about how our land, water, and people are all connected.
Running Through the Fire
In the film, the artist and his friends run through fields that are on fire. In Punjab, farmers often burn the leftover stalks of their crops to get the soil ready for the next season.
As they run, they pull long white canvases behind them. These canvases catch the black soot and smoke. Kulpreet says: “The canvases trace the cycles of violence we live within — against land, farmers, air, and water. What we see as smoke or ash is never isolated; it reflects wider systems of pressure, imbalance, and neglect.”
Image Credit: Photo courtesy: Kochi Biennale Foundation
Problems with Modern Farming
The artist talks about the Green Revolution. Long ago, new ways of farming helped grow more food. But these new ways also caused problems like using too many chemicals and too much water.
The artist explains that he does not see his two jobs as different things. He says: “I do not see farming and art as separate. A farmer cultivates for humans and other living beings and the unseen networks of life within the soil as well.”
Nature as a Family Member
Kulpreet shares a special prayer from his home. It says that air is like a teacher, water is like a father, and the earth is like a mother. He says: “The Gurbani line ‘Pavan Guru, Pani Pita, Mata Dharat Mahat’ resonates deeply here as a way of understanding the world — not as a resource, but as a relationship.”
Image Credit: Photo courtesy: Kochi Biennale Foundation
A Hope for a Better Future
At the end of the film, the artist puts ash into his pockets. He says: “Our minds are like pockets — whatever we fill them with is what emerges. If they are filled with ash, only ash will come out.”
Image Credit: Photo courtesy: Kochi Biennale Foundation
He wants us to choose kindness instead. He says: “What we need is a humane revolution — a slowing down — to imagine a more just and gentle society.” For this artist, art is a way to serve the world and help everyone’s well-being.
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