Broken Seeds (Still Grow)

Broken Seeds (Still Grow) is a cross-disciplinary and multi-media project conceived by Rupy C.
Tut and Nadhi Thekkek, founder and artistic director of Nava Dance Theater, a San Francisco
Bay Area based company.

The project involves a specially choreographed Bharatanatyam performance (classical south
Indian dance) set against the projections of visual art works, poetry reading and music to tell
poignant stories stemming from the 1947 Partition of the Indian subcontinent and its aftermath
across space and time. Outside its core narrative, the project’s broader aim was to examine the link between the past and the present particularly as it relates to the current socio-political climate of racial and religious discords. 

Broken Seeds (Still Grow) premiered at The Flight Deck in Oakland, California on November 16,
2017. This special 70-minute limited run performance has also been shown at the
Costume Shop of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, California between
March 15, 17, and and 18, 2018. The sequel, Taking Root, is set to premiere in San Francisco at CounterPulse on March 29, 30, 31. www.brokenseeds.com

"The complete set of artworks that Tut created for the project is included here. It takes the
viewer on a journey beginning with nostalgic images of simple life associated with the
homeland: a grove of trees and fluffy clouds that for the artist personally relate to memories of
childhood. Then with the onset of Partition, violence erupts turning once a friend into foe
symbolised by fire. Aggression forces many to abandon home and belongings. Burden
represents the emotional and psychological weight one carries after having had to escape in
order to survive as well as lingering painful memories of loss and carnage."

 

-- Sharona Adamowicz-Clements,

Curator

Peel Art Gallery & Museum Archives, Brampton, ON