Keep an eye out for this Kolkata artist's installation at Kala Ghoda Festival

A few days after nine people were arrested for allegedly murdering a delivery executive in the city and the day after a woman in a hospital not far from LT Marg police station succumbed to an acid attack by her lover of 25 years and the same week when hundreds of people marched in central Mumbai to oppose interfaith love the Duronto Express from Kolkata brought to the city a poetartist with a small bag and lots of prayer flags in towViolence and its opposite peace unite these unrelated incidents the murders the agitation against love and the rail journey of Sufia Khatoon Now in Mumbai 500 of her white flags will feature poems on peaceKhatoon has inscribed the poems by hand she will string up these flags along with clay wind chimes inside the main lawns of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya for the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2023 ldquoKala Ghodardquo she says ldquois known for its interactiveness with people through art literature dance theatre and all mediums of expression Itrsquos a place for creative minds to unite and speak for their causesrdquo Itrsquos what brought her to the art district in the first place her flags will feature verse by many poets including a few from Mumbai like Anju Makhija Yamini Dand Shah Mustansir Dalvi and Pervin Saket ldquoAnd there is space for morerdquo she says adding that ldquopoets authors and studentsrdquo can email or message her on Instagram to contribute Some of her poems on peace have come from as far as Tehran Florida USA and Ukraine ldquoThis installation in a way breaks hierarchyrdquo It brings both the famous and notsofamous together ldquoThe hope is to create a positive impact for peacerdquo What unites them Khatoon says is a ldquocollective consciousness for a more united and secular worldrdquoHer poems at least a few in the past have dealt with cultural confluence in direct or oblique ways another of her visual projects showcased previously featured mandalas or mandalalike symbols found in various cultures During her 2017 trip to the mountain pass of Nathu La in Sikkim the sight of prayer flags which are said to be of Himalayan Buddhist cultural origin inscribed with the names of dead people moved her to feel contentment gratitude and acceptance ldquoIt felt like prayerrdquo she says of Nathu La and ldquosince poetry has always felt like prayer to me this installation idea was perceived thererdquoMoved by the sight at Nathu La she wanted to influence others Soon after 200 of her flags were exhibited in Kolkata in 2019 ldquoThose who are artists always live with an uneasiness since they want to create give life to their ideas and make it realrdquo says the selfconfessed restless artist who wishes to display over a million flags in the next three decadesKhatoon who was nominated for the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar twice for her poetry collections found her mental and physical health taking a beating during the lockdowns Her internal conflicts made the idea ldquocome back stronglyrdquoShe wishes the flags will ldquomove society to process all the violence it has inflicted and governing bodies to think about brotherhood and secularismrdquo ldquoI also hope it encourages us to pay attention to find more and better ways for coexistence teach people to respect and be more accepting towards each other and more specifically create a space where women feel safe and powerful and men feel free to talk about their worriesrdquo On a personal level Khatoon says she experiences peace ldquowhen I can travel without having to worry about my Muslim identity when I can walk on the streets without getting taunted or worrying about how it feels to be a woman and where my spiritual beliefs are acceptedrdquoTo contribute peacepoemssufiagmailcomIN PHOTOS Watch these innovative installation arts from Kala Ghoda 2023 in Mumbai