Critical Writing Index

Gauging Trauma & Empathy

by Claire Eckert

South Asian Visual Arts Centre, 2007

Monitor 3, SAVAC's third annual screening of contemporary South Asian film and video offers a curated glimpse into the vast amount of work being created by South Asian artists internationally. The videos selected for Monitor 3 (both by design and coincidence) deal with traumatic actions, testimony and mobility. What do these prevalent themes tell us about video practice within the South Asian diaspora? Can video be a tool for empathy and healing in the aftershock of tragic events or physical assault? The representations of these themes and subject matter vary forcefully. They range from acts of assault, technically aggressive camera and editing styles, statements on prejudice and the past, to essayistic examinations of distressing events.

ITEM 2007.170 – available for viewing in the Research Centre

Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited

Outside the Saying of ItVaidehi Chitre

Patriot StoryNaeem Mohaiemen

fire, fences and flightAyesha Hameed

IshnanTejpal S. Ajji

Dead BeatSmirti Mehra

Clifton to SaddarFaisal Anwar