Walking as performing in the city
Dialogues and ethnographic encounters
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21721964 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Priyanka Pathak (0000-0002-0703-5033, Jawaharlal Nehru University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 257-274 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Studies in Theatre and Performance (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1468-2761 • E-ISSN: 2040-0616 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14682761.2025.2478716 |
| OpenAlex | W4408587083 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 6 |
This article explores Yamuna Walk (2007) by Atul Bhalla, an event where artists walked alone at waste and garbage sites in New Delhi. Unlike conventional theatre or performance making, there were no stage props, and the performance was not rehearsed or predetermined. The walk was an embodied and immersive experience, contrasting with leisurely or touristic walks at historical sites. Walking at such marginalized sites is an ethnographic encounter where artists and citizens take time to immerse themselves in the landscape through walking. This article establishes how an undirected and unrehearsed walk at waste/garbage sites exposes state-sponsored discrimination but also challenges the undemocratic nature of the performance apparatus, which is usually concentrated in urban hubs. With their temporal nature, the walks intertwine historical time and trace the phenomenological experiences of everyday life. This article queries the possibility of understanding urbanization and the expansion of Delhi through walks, especially at landfills or waste sites. It explores how unevenness in urbanization and the city’s expansion can be observed or assessed through this medium. The choice of a waste site, and the risks involved in walking at such sites in the city, are also critical factors in how Yamuna Walk highlights uneven urbanization
Aesthetics · Art · Ethnography · Sociology · Visual arts · Anthropology · Art Therapy and Mental Health · Diversity and Impact of Dance · Psychology · Theatre and Performance Studies
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |