Mapping Being

The installation truly leaves one speechless. This was the most moving piece in a series of artistic works, installations, and performances that appeared as if from nowhere in an open space in the middle of the Aurovilian forest, far from bulldozers and political affairs. An open-air gallery that, for a week, hosted about fifteen works created specifically under the theme of Mapping Being.

In this exercise of mapping our beings, the artists worked with places, emotions, nature, memory, and imagination. And so, painted coconuts appeared to trace our animal feelings, colourful statistics connecting today’s Aurovilians to those of the past, surreal photo montages mapping Auroville’s presence in all corners of the world, mushrooms and shiny hearts that grew during the night at the foot of a tree.

We then encountered the entrance to an underground network that keeps us connected in a subtle dimension; we had our futures read by a group of shamans from distant lands; we felt the possibility of re-harmonising our fragmented world into a single design, and more.

And most importantly, we once again had the chance to immerse ourselves in the forest and follow the traces of our hearts, in a walk that led us to reconnect with nature and its spirit. Along the magical path, two large sculptures awaited us, helping us feel the spirit of the earth, its breath and its power.

That’s the Auroville we belong to. Let’s forget the rest.