Artist's statement

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Dear Aphrodite is a letter, a poem, an ode to melancholy. Dear Aphrodite is a person in crisis. Dear Aphrodite is an attempt at healing. Dear Aphrodite began as a digital performance and travelled only to become a strange film. 

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It is an exercise in self reflection, documentation and commentary that is hard to define and is not ready to be boxed into a category. Not unlike the creator of the piece, it yearns to belong and yet doesn't want to fit in. 

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More than anything, Dear Aphrodite is the process of looking at oneself, asking important questions, both personal and political. It is not a document of self love. On the contrary, there are too many things which hint at self hatred. But maybe there is a thin line between the two, and the text and images keep jumping from one side to another in search of answers. 

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Disability, body image, love, loneliness form the core of these conversations and yet it is also a love song, a sad one, but a love song nonetheless.

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About the artist

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Abhishek Anicca is a writer, poet and performer. He identifies as a person with locomotor disability and chronic illness which shapes his creative endeavors. His nonfiction writing has appeared in  DNA, Times of India, The Quint, The Third Eye, Agents of Ishq, TEL, Mad in Asia among others. His poems have been published in English and Hindi, most notably in Nether Quarterly, Indian Cultural Forum, Gulmohur Quarterly, The Alipore Post, The Sunflower Collective, Jankipul, Samalochan and Posham Pa. He uses spoken word poetry and theatrical performances for disability activism and has given more than fifty performances in festivals and events across India and beyond. Abhishek has a master's degree in Development Studies from TISS, Mumbai and an MPhil degree in Women’s & Gender Studies from Ambedkar University, Delhi. 

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Credits

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Writing, shooting, edit | Abhishek Anicca

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Selections

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3rd Beyond Borders Feminist Film Festival (Online)