Artist Statement

Jiva Parthipan is a trans-disciplinary artist and performer whose work is often concerned with the manner in which power is negotiated in the interpersonal, social, geopolitical and sexual spheres.
His artistic practice is an attempt to make sense of the world around him by framing, reframing, negotiating and then renegotiating with every life situation.

Each work arises from a particular event that helps both the audience and the artist to see it in a new light. For example, Necessary Journey is a performance lecture about travel. Here, a series of bureaucratic red tape along with geopolitical implications and travel restrictions hindered a proposed travel residency to Mexico and the USA. This ‘failure’, resulted in a performance work about the privilege of travel.

This engagement with real issues offers Parthipan multiple possibilities in performance making. Therefore depending on the idea and context Parthipan utilizes a variety of disciplines and strategies ranging from theatre, games, dance, video, text and interventions to realise the project. Some are irreverent, others funny but they are always highly charged and engaging.