Bani Abidi employs video, photography and performance to explore the emotional and psychological realms of satire, absurdity and social commentary. Her unexpected protagonists blur the lines between actors and non-actors, scripted and spontaneous moments, exposing the inane theatre of our social fabric. 

Proposal for a Man in the Sea (2012) features Ram Sutar, a renowned octogenarian Indian sculptor who dedicated his life to creating public statues commemorating national milestones and cultural figures such as Mahatma Gandhi. The archival prints in the installation, a culmination of Abidi’s visit to Sutar’s studio, present her findings of scattered memorabilia, statues, busts, photographs and drawings of unrealised, purely aspirational pieces. In this photographic installation, Abidi expands on themes explored in her earlier piece The Speech Writer, which probes ideas of nationhood and utopia rooted in the minds of individuals who experienced the birth of their nations, and thus consider themselves key players in nation-building.