Created by the Indian artist at the invitation of the Guimet museum, the work is inspired by a real story: that of the extinction of the aka-bo language spoken by the Bo tribe on the Andaman archipelago (India ), also called “birdsong”. Conceived as an initiatory journey where writing, archeology and the fleeting sensation of memory mingle, Manish Pushkale's installation reminds us of the fragility of the conservation of intangible heritage and the vulnerability of a culture faced with the rapidity of global changes.

The installation is a cocoon into which one must enter as if into a forgotten and mysterious sanctuary. The artist recreates, in a visual and abstract way, the “song of birds”, a vanished oral language of the Bo tribe, whose last speaker Boa Sr. died in 2010. A maze of screens three meters high and nineteen meters long constitutes a fragile labyrinthine architecture in which the visitor is invited to wander.

The work houses hidden birds which make their song heard, metaphorically replacing the absent voice of Boa Sr. and his “birdsong” which has fallen into oblivion. On the exterior, a nest made of paper twigs protects two eggs, symbols of hope for rebirth or reincarnation of the Bo tribe.

Self-taught artist, Manish Pushkale (born in 1973) turned to artistic creation after studying geology and archaeology, integrating the multidisciplinary artistic complex of Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh region). It is in the fertile, intellectual and creative atmosphere of this Indian artistic melting pot that he refined his style and his sensitivity, resolutely oriented towards abstraction. There he received the influence of great masters of Indian painting, notably Sayed Haider Raza (1922-2016), whose mandalas the Musée Guimet exhibited on the occasion of his retrospective at the Center Pompidou in spring 2023. Also a member of the Raza Foundation in New Delhi, where he lives and works as an independent artist, Manish Pushkale has exhibited in India and around the world, in group and personal exhibitions. His calm and contemplative paintings dwell on themes of the ebb and flow of civilization, on genesis, progress and inevitable change.

Curator
Claire Bettinelli, responsible for producing exhibitions and contemporary collections (Guimet museum)
Manish Pushkale, artist