We have heard of poetry. But In The Woods – 2 brings us ‘poetree’. This is an art exhibition with a difference. Amidst the jungles of Bir in Himachal, a certain Frank Schlichtmann has curated art that is not to hang on the wall or display in hotel lobby. It is to experience through eyes, ears and the other senses. Example – ‘poetree’ are trees in Bir forest that recite poetry or play music. Only if you want to listen.

We were invited to the first ever Trigart Kangra Valley Festival organised by the Department of Language and Culture of the Government of Himachal Pradesh. The goal was to highlight the rich art, craft and culture of this region to tourists. In The Woods – 2 was part of the Trigart Festival.

Frank and his team of local villagers had worked very hard to install the art work in absolute wilderness. Given that there is no source of electricity here, the land had to be cleared to make paths, power cables had to be laid and only then could the artwork be installed. It has been raining the last few days and they inauguration of the event had already been deferred to a drier day.

We reached this place in the evening before inauguration. It was chilling cold. The sparse lights from the bottom of the trees at the exhibition site gave a fairly land effect. The show did not comprise of paintings or sculptures. They were experiential. The artists had shared their experiences through various video and audio clips use here. Like an able curator Frank had put all this together to make a coherent art language.

An experience we could all relate with. We loved what we saw and were not satiated. We wanted to experience more of this art drama and hope to see that in the coming events by Frank and his team. The team had also prepared finger-licking good pasta, sandwiches and tea for us that made the inaugural event like a picnic.

Kudos to Frank’s efforts. It was worth every wink of sleep we compromised from driving up all the way from Delhi. In The Woods (ITW – 2) is on till this Sunday 11th, November 2018. No more spoilers but it is definitely lighting some new lamps this Diwali.