Tamasha – Abhishek Khedekar

Indian artist Abhishek Khedekar's experimental docu-fiction follows a 100-person nomadic troupe of Dalit 'families' performing Tamasha: a travelling form of performance combining dance, music, and visual art dating back to the 1800s. As post-independence India moved away from rural dance and song forms, Tamasha became stigmatised, polarised and relegated in Indian society. Criss-crossing the state of Maharashtra, Khedekar's images dive into the complexity of this sociocultural fabric with a dizzying array of artistic techniques by utilising archival material, collage, documentary photography, performance, sound and video. 

Khedekar's bricolage of experimental visual narratives elevates the make-do, unpretentious attitude of Tamasha performance into a unique aesthetic of song, community and expression: situating Tamasha's traditions in modern India.

Khedekar is the recipient of Publishing Performance 2022: an artist’s residency and publishing award focused on the intersections of photography and performance. Khedekar developed his work as artist-in-residence at Mahler & LeWitt Studios in Spoleto, Italy, for a book to be edited, designed and published by Loose Joints.

Abhishek Rajaram Khedekar (b. 1991) is a photographer based in New Delhi, India. His work revolves around documenting stories bordering between reality and fiction, creating narratives, and curating archival images.

Khedekar studied Masters in Photography Design at the National Institute of Design, India. He is currently working as a freelance photographer and designer, while also focusing on his long-term photo-based projects. Khedekar is the 2022 recipient of the Loose Joints/Mahler & Lewitt Studios Publishing Performance award.

88 pages, 220 × 260 mm, 75 colour plates
Cahier-bound debossed brochure

Edited by Sarah Chaplin Espenon at Loose Joints Studio
Designed & Published by Loose Joints

LJ180, July 2023