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8 I S L A N D A A T H A V A D I P


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Partapur is an oasis inside the Rajasthan desert full of water and vegetation. This condition continuouslyshapes the terrain generating endemic dynamics that transform it into a subjective island.

Addressing its environment from the present context allows to identify certain relationships that areregistered in the 8th Island/Aathava Dip project.


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The capsule holds a living piece of the terrain; a mobile island built to take part in the town of Partapur.


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The 8th Island Collection of Living Plants has been made without following indexes from NaturalSciences or formal history. This Collection hosts every type of plant without distinction-- native, horti-cultural, foreign, weeds, ornamental, medicinal, free, paid or any other specimen-- in order to accessa current display of the elements that are in motion in Partapurs environment. This living collection isopen to receiving specimen donations from the area of Partapur and within a radius of 30 kms-- please contact Yatin Upadhyay, Sandarbh Office.

*The only species impossible to include in the 8th Island Collection of Living Plants is the Ankh. Ayoung individual was found near the cricket field, but when being included in the collection, it gaverise to immediate discussion. It disappeared after a couple of hours due to popular beliefs. It is saidthat Ankh brings adversity to householders and that no other plant will grow nearby.

2.The researched terrain was determined by the transmission range of the local TV channel PB Patrika, which covers a radius of 30 kms, giving name to what is todaydenominated Partapurs area.

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The absolute water island of Partapur is invaded every year during the dry season by

Northern people on transit. These persons walk away from the arid lands of the Rajasthan tobreak into the encapsulated lakes and government pumps. Once the monsoon finally arrivesto their own lands its time for them to walk back again.

The underground water level differences between the Rajasthan state and this particular areashapes the islands traits. Dr. A.K. Soni, expert in water mining, says that while in the


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Rajasthan desert areas in general, underground water is found at least at 40m and as

deep as 200m, in the pre-monsoon season in the Partapur area in 2012, water was trackedat just 5 to 8m, making this land a particularly valuable one. The fact that ground waterquality is in general poor (brackish to saline) at deeper levels, adds even more value to it -

says the expert from Nagpur.

Partapur is located at 23.6N latitude and 74.17E longitude. It is part of the Land of theHundred Islands, the Banswara District of southern Rajasthan, India.

1.The vocabulary is inspired by the book by Peter Sloterdijk, Esferas III, translated by Isidoro Reguera. Espaa: Ediciones Siruela, 2006.

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New topographies; Ganesh territory in Partapur

Over 100 new Ganesh islands emerge each year adjoining the submarine Archipelago of Ganeshes thatstarted forming in the year Lala Lajpat Rai created a completely new method to extend national territo-

ries. Strange elephant forms were shaped on land and thrown into the water by numerous groups to cre-ate submarine islands during the month of September. His popular method was said to unite people andsoon after was replicated in Partapur. Geologists estimate that the Ganesh territory in Partapur will rise to

the surface in the XXXVII century.

1.PB Patrika Ganesh Chaturthi, 2009


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Koshile Joshi chose this background paper when he started his photography shop 5 years ago. He hasportrayed over a thousand Partapur islanders inside the green island scenario.


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3. Its all desert, you can see the ocean on a 360 view. Photo-graph property of Navin Chandra Acharia

Its all desert, you can see the ocean for 360 degrees in the round. I have never seen a tree in thirteenyears, says Navin Chandra Acharia who worked in a hotel in Bahrain and is now back in Partapur.

Only fifteen Partapur islanders live in Bahrain, one of them is Surias husband whom Navin invited to this otherisland. He is still there. This is a shiny tree Navin brought back as a souvenir. He will soon leave for Kuwait,

another desert where a larger number of Partapur islanders temporarily live.

2. Photo extracted from http://newspaper.li/bahrain


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A NEW ECOLOGICAL LEVEL

Almost all plants in the area grow on the surface, except for the Tulsi. There is a different level, from 1m to1.6m high, where another vegetation layer grows-- its the Tulsi on top of its holy base. Every Hindu house andtemple installs one in a separate elevated place, safe from animals and dirty water, so it can grow well to bringprosperity.

The survival of this level depends on the nurturing of women: a clean water supply, daily prayer and yearlynutrients provided by saris, bangles and bindis buried under the soil on the 11th day of the black fortnight ofthe Kartik month. A healthy specimen can be appreciated in the Shitlamata temple, where Suria is thepriest. She stole it from a neighbours house near the river, and looks after it carefully. Temple visitorscomplete the nurturing by pruning-eating the Tulsi, which they find very holy and tasty.

The photo travelled 3.5 hours by plane from the Gulf country of Bahrain to Azamgarh and 5 hours bybus from Azamgarh to Partapur. Suria unrolled the two pieces and hanged them together on the living

room wall. The palm leaves are from a place unknown to her. >>

Shitlemata Temple visitor


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Only two kinds of plant specimens grow on the domestic terrains of Partapur. It is said that if you buythese plants they dont grow as big as if you steal them. Epipremnum aureum, also called Money Plant, is

one. It has aerial roots that reach for the ceiling, embracing the


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architectural space of each house as the family gets wealthier. There are cases when the Epipremnum au-reum has climbed as high as three stories, but the family still remains in debt.


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00. KHETA / FARM

01. SARAK / ROAD

05. KAMEL TALAP / LOTUS LAKE

06. KANHAN SHITRO / MARBLE MINE

11. ARTHUNA MANDIARS / ARTHUNA TEMPLES

17. RAJKIYE PUDSHALA / GOVERNMENTS NURSERY19. NADHI / RIVER

22. GAMOLE KEPODE / HOUSE PLANTS

23. KAUDADAAN / DUMP

29. SACRED GARDEN / PAVITRA GARDANA

37. AMBRO KUNJ / MANGO FOREST

42. PANI MOTER / WATER PUMP

43. GUNGAL NARSARY / xx FOREST NURSERY

50. ACHARIA CHATA xx ACHARIAS TERRACE

EXPEDITIONS TO ASSEMBLE THE

8TH ISLAND COLLECTION OF LIVING PLANTS


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The 8th Island / Aathava Dip Project was made during theSandbarh International Residency on June 2012

Supported by

Sandarbh ResidencyBLVSWilliam Graf Travel Grant from Hunter College

Published 2012, Santiago de Chile.First Edition 300 copies

The 8th Island collection was founded by Patricia Domnguez and Anne MonttBook Design, Photography & Texts by Patricia Domnguez and Anne MonttEditor Rodney Strabucchi

Patricia DomnguezAnne Montt

Many thanks to

Yatin Upadhyay and familyPrem Narain YadavPrem & Behrus Metal ShopPB Patrika T.V. ChannelHitesh DamorNishant UpadhyayDr. A.K. SoniRodney StrabucchiAlejandra DomnguezThe Grange School

Plant donors: Acharia family, Devram Joshi, Roopsingh Rathor and Partapurs Forest Ranger.

Sandarbh Residency

Is a non profit-artists initiative founded by visual artists from India in 2003 to increase interaction between the rural and theurban situation with art and culture. They organise short span site-specific artists workshops and one month long residencies inrural situations in Partapur, Banswara, India.

www.sandarbhart.com

Anne MonttIs an artist from Chilo Island in South America who, lives and works in Santiago, Chile. She defines already existing spacesgraphically, making tangible the relationships that are in motion. She studied Visual Arts at Universidad Catlica de Chile and atBologna University, Italy and participated in the residency Taller Experimental de Grfica in Havana, Cuba, specializing in lithog-raphy. Her first solo exhibition, De Cuba a Castro, was held in Castro, Chilo Island in 2010.

Patricia DomnguezIs a Chilean visual artist and naturalist that lives and works in New York. She researches current ways people relate to andunderstand the concept of nature. She is a MFA Studio Art Candidate at Hunter College. She holds a Visual Arts degree fromUniversidad Catlica de Chile and studied Botanical and Natural Science Illustration at the New York Botanical Garden. She hasparticipated in several residencies such as in the American Museum of Natural History (2011), The Watermill Center (2011),and in the Institute of Critical Zoologists (2012). Her work has been published in books such as Younger Than Jesus: ArtistDirectory by the New Museum of Contemporary Art among others.

www.patriciadominguez.com


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