Najia Fatima

Created for the Once Upon A Water Residency, this performance addresses South Asia’s water devastation and highlights the militarization of Punjab’s major rivers which results in the lack of access to water for the public. I perform the traditional women’s dance moves with a matka - a South Asian water vessel at the lake. Once inside the water, these dance moves transform into a struggle to fill water from the lake.

The push and pull of the crashing waves and the endeavor to fetch water depicts the tense relationship between people and their waters. It also explores women’s labour in the act of fetching water as they are the primary users of matkas. Upon my the arrival to the shore I discover that the matka is filled with grenades instead of water, an act that explores the militarization of water.