Fire Within, Calm Without is a site-specific project created for the Sala Verónicas in Murcia, Spain.

The title, Fire Within, Calm Without, is taken from a text by the Indian film director Satyajit Ray, dealing with the dual nature of Indian aesthetics. Based on introspection, these aesthetics reflect the tensions of a culture marked by the extreme scarcity of material goods. Fragments of his master work, the realistic and poetic film “Pather Panchali”,will be projected on the dome of the exhibition space. Simultaneously, scenes of contemporary commercial Indian cinema – the so-called Bollywood movies – will also be screened. Their aesthetics, characterized by artificiality, sugary emotions and bright colours, project upon the viewer a completely different image of themselves and their cultural identity. The contrast between these two different aesthetics makes patent the fractures and paradoxes of identity construction in cinema. The aim of this project is not so much to make a critique of Indian cinema as to stimulate in the viewer a reflection about the media myths of our society.

The mise en scene of Fire Within, Calm Without requires the direct participation of the viewer. They will have to take their shoes off, as required in religious rituals. As they enter the installation they will find themselves in an open, naked space, having in the middle a rectangle piece made of semi-rigid material where they may sit down and behold the videos projected on the upper part of the dome.