{"id":160638,"date":"2026-09-06T17:22:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T17:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/160638\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T17:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T17:22:10","slug":"birding-utopias-from-the-global-south-to-the-global-north-morungexpress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/160638\/","title":{"rendered":"Birding Utopia(s): From the Global South to the Global North | MorungExpress"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Lapdiang Syiem performs Birding Utopia(s) at Oslo Mela, where the art-performance premiered at R\u00e5dhusplassen on August 15. (Photo Courtesy: Aheli Moitra)\n <\/p>\n

Artists from NE perform at Oslo Mela 2026<\/p>\n

Morung Express News
Dimapur | September 6\u00a0<\/p>\n

Artists from North-East India took their conceptual and artistic labour to Norway this year. As a Global South-North initiative between the cities of Guwahati, Shillong, Oslo and Troms\u00f8, the art-performance was produced at the 25th Oslo Mela, a festival led by the city\u2019s immigrant communities. The first-time production premiered on August 15 and 16. Titled \u2018Birding Utopia(s)\u2019, the art-performance was presented at R\u00e5dhusplassen, the City Hall Square, known as the \u2018living room\u2019 of Oslo, the capital of Norway.<\/p>\n

Birding Utopia(s) was a collaborative work of visual artist and novelist Parismita Singh, from Guwahati, Assam, theatre artist Lapdiang<\/p>\n

Artimai Syiem, from Shillong, Meghalaya, and Aheli Moitra, a journalist from India who is currently an academic in Troms\u00f8, Northern Norway. The work was funded and supported by the Oslo Mela. The art-performance was an exploration of social possibilities and processes of \u2018birding utopia(s)\u2019 in \u201cour time.\u201d Birding, according to its concept note, involved the \u201cenactment of transgression on limits to species and gender, South-North-East-West, race and class, body and beyond.\u201d Utopia (in the singular) here calls for a conversation of the multiple imaginations of utopias (in the plural) in contemporary time. \u00a0<\/p>\n

(Left-Right) Lapdiang Artimai Syiem, Parismita Singh, and Aheli Moitra at the Oslo Mela while installing Birding Utopia(s) on August 14, at R\u00e5dhusplassen. (Photo courtesy: Martin L Blah)<\/p>\n

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Singh\u2019s suspended artwork on cloth was animated by theatrical movements by Lapdiang Syiem that re-told tales of bird-human transmigrations as they challenged borders in their reach for utopic futures, set to music by Dibakar Saha and Apkyrmenskhem Tangsong. The work was curated and managed by Moitra.<\/p>\n

For \u2018Birding Utopia(s)\u2019, Syiem explored themes of metamorphosis and women transforming during times of crisis. Syiem explained that the work drew from the Khasi folktales like \u201cKa Krem Lamet Latang\u201d and \u201cU Lymboit Lymbiang,\u201d and was influenced by the poetry of Esther Syiem. According to her, it addressed the traditional Khasi saying that the \u201cworld ends when hens crow.\u201d \u201cThe work drew inspiration from Esther Syiem\u2019s poetry\u2014 that hens must crow, the time has come for women to crow,\u201d Syiem said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

People attending the Oslo Mela interact with Parismita Singh’s artwork for Birding Utopia(s) on August 16, at R\u00e5dhusplassen. (Photo courtesy: Aheli Moitra)<\/p>\n

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In terms of the international setting of the performance, Syiem noted that artists need not take on the pressure of whether their work fits into a global context. She stated that if the work attempts to respond to local conditions at a level that moves the artist to create and resist, it will naturally find its connections regardless of where it is presented. \u201cI think if the work we choose to make already attempts to respond to our current conditions\/scenario\/politics locally… then I feel it will find its connections wherever it is placed,\u201d she said. Her choreography incorporated traditional elements, including the use of \u201cKi Jai\u00f1kyrshah\u201d (a Khasi garment) and a \u201cmurha\u201d (seating stool primarily made of bamboo or cane) as her primary costume and prop.<\/p>\n

Syiem\u2019s performance provided \u201can unforgettable bird\u2019s eye view of the fight for utopias while living through looming dystopia from the Global South to the Global North,\u201d stated a Facebook note by a member of the audience who attended the work on the second day of its exhibition on August 16.\u00a0<\/p>\n

2 Lapdiang Artimai \u00a0Syiem performs Birding Utopia(s) at Oslo Mela, where the art-performance premiered at R\u00e5dhusplassen on August 15. (Photo courtesy: Aheli Moitra)<\/p>\n

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The Oslo Mela, held over the South Asian Independence weekend (around August 14-16), is a festival that takes over the heart of Oslo city each year since 2001. Free attendance makes the Mela widely accessible to \u2018desis\u2019 and \u2018non-desis\u2019 of a city highly segregated along class lines. Norwegian media has termed the festival as one of Norway\u2019s biggest and most important festivals that brings its diverse communities together.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This was the first time that an art segment was established as part of the Mela. The artwork was displayed throughout the duration of the two days, while the performance was for 30 minutes each on both days.<\/p>\n

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According to Festival Director, Ashley Shiri, \u201cBirding Utopia(s) was one of the highlights of this year\u2019s Oslo Mela Festival, and it was widely praised by the audiences.\u201d The piece, alongside two others, introduced critical explorations to the festival, using art and performance to showcase the \u201ccomplex interconnectivity in the times we live in.\u201d It fit into the festival profile as an \u201cinternational meeting place for creative forces and people,\u201d Shiri said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The focus of this year\u2019s Birding Utopia(s) was on climate catastrophes from the Himalayas to the Arctic. Capitalist accumulation and overconsumption impact ecological destruction. While mega disasters affect everyone, the daily brunt of this destruction is often disproportionately borne by women. Feminist explorations were embodied in this art-performance of reaching out for solutions that urge the breaking of some boundaries while keeping others, and struggling through each such act.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lapdiang Syiem performs Birding Utopia(s) at Oslo Mela, where the art-performance premiered at R\u00e5dhusplassen on August 15. (Photo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160639,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[85],"tags":[157,156],"class_list":["post-160638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oslo","tag-norway","tag-oslo"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/117225255783703275","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}