On the Diasporic Rhizome: A Conversation with Brendan Fernandes

In this second of a two-part interview with artist Brendan Fernandes, we continue our conversation about forming connections within this pandemic-afflicted paradigm. We also talk about the virtual exhibition Diasporic Rhizome, organised by South Asia Institute, Chicago from March to May 2021. The exhibition was put together through an open call, for which Fernandes served as the jury alongside new media artist Faisal Anwar and research-based artist and art organiser Ambika Trasi. The exhibition brought together twenty-one contemporary practitioners from varied backgrounds with diasporic connections to South Asia.

Talking about his concerns and the process of selecting work for the exhibition, Fernandes emphasises the philosophical concept of a “rhizome”—a living network of multiple and non-hierarchical entities— developed by French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. Drawing upon this, the exhibition paid attention to the present moment, bringing together contemporary artists from across different geographies as well as various overlapping historical and social concerns. Fernandes also talks about his own negotiations with identity and cultural histories, being from the Goan as well as Kenyan diasporas and currently living in the United States of America.

^{(Featured Image: some dance to remember, some dance to forget. After Party Collective. 2020. Single Channel Video with Sound. Eight Minutes Fifty-four seconds. Image courtesy of the artists.)}

Interview taken on 13 July 2021.