Vogue India | The Kochi-Muziris Biennale helped me navigate the grief of losing my father

Akshaya Pillai, Vogue India, March 7, 2023
The Sea is a Blue Memory is a sensorial video where Priyageetha Dia recreates the undulation of the sea in CGI from different angles. When I step in, a flurry of yellow flowers waddles through the tides. Dia aspires to replicate the queasiness of the sea voyage as experienced by labourers. For me, watching the video essay felt like being pulled underwater, where, just last week, my father’s ashes accompanied marigolds on a last journey. Does this alter the relationship between the artist and the viewer? Would it annoy Dia to know that I have added undercurrents of grief to her hard work? Personal to the political?