COURTESY
AZAD NANAKELI
Destnuej
(Purification),
2011
Video
performance Installation, 2 screen and sound 9 mins
In my language, Destnuej
means purification, to cleanse the body from all sins. When I was a boy, water
for daily use was extracted from wells for drinking, cooking, and washing. Long
ago the water from the wells was clear and pure, but already at that time,
however, things had changed: my friends who lived in the same area suffered
from illnesses linked to contaminated water. My nephew contracted malaria and
died. Since then, a lot has changed the wells no longer exist. Like in most
places they were replaced by acqueducts but the problems persist. Residues of
every shape and substance are poured incessantly into the water, poisoning
rivers and oceans.
Toxic waste, nuclear
waste, chemicals, and multiply inexorably seeping into groundwater. Slowly, day
after day, they enter into our bodies. For these reasons, the water is no
longer pure. Drinking, cooking, washing. Purifying. Purification is an ancient
ritual, disseminated in the four corners of the world.
The man who always
drinks this water is contaminates his own body. The man who uses it to purify
himself contaminates himself.
My work is based on and
motivated by these themes, which are also linked to the general degradation man
causes to the environment around us.
AZAD NANAKELI
