Research-based art practice: Ravi Agarwal’s 'Else, all will be Still' (2013-2015)

Else All Will Be Still is an ensemble of works, mainly photographs and videos, derived from Ravi Agarwal’s long-term fieldwork among fishermen in a small coastal village of Tamil Nadu, India. The series offers a multitude of perspectives from which to grasp the complex reality of this community whose traditional way of life is bound to disappear. The work focuses on the fishermen’s work techniques and daily gestures, and emphasizes their specific relationship with the local ecosystem. At the same time, Agarwal proposes a deeper reflection on the unfathomable nature of the sea and shares his own experience and attempts to capture its inexhaustible features.