Crease/ Crevice/ Contour, a collection of 10 photographs, traces the changing L.O.C. (Line Of Control) between India and Pakistan, from October 1947 to December 1948. It refers to the first of the four wars fought among the two newly independent nations over the region of Kashmir. The result of the war, still affects the geo-politics of both the countries to this day, leaving behind a deep sense of mistrust and many psychological scars.
The photo-piece comprises names of those who’ve signed the peace petition between India and Pakistan. Within my work the L.O.C. appears recurrently not just as a political demarcation but metaphorically as a sociological barrier amongst the people on both sides.
The work maps the movement of the LOC, showcasing 10 stages of the war through a diagrammatic sketch of the shifting border, finally leading up to the historical ceasefire. The photographs are close details of the back of a body stamped with names using rubber-stamps; the collective cluster of names forming the shifting territory between the two countries, appears like a residual scar of the never ending dispute.
text by Reena Saini Kallat
