Nikhil Chopra: La Perla Negra

La Perla Negra: Plaza de Armas is a live performance by Nikhil Chopra (b. 1973, Allahabad).

For this performance the artist reflects on Cuba from its time as the gateway for the Spanish to the rest of its American Colonies, to it’s hay days as the play ground for the rich, to is Revolution, to an island like a bird in a cage, where embargos have both isolated and protected it from the rest of the world; while thinking about its future as it stands poised at a major cultural threshold.The artist in the persona of La Perla Negra will stay imprisoned in a cage in the center of Plaza de Armas for 60 hours. For this duration La Perla Negra will make drawings on large pieces of cotton canvas. The drawings will function as a form of documentation as La Perla Negra draws what she sees through the bars of her cage. She will attempt to escape from her prison as the drawings develops and as an illusion of what lies on the outside is created.
La Perla Negra or the Black Pearl refers to its historic usage where people of colour have been given this title in recognition of their exceptional talent. including Pele and Josephine Baker as much pop-culture and the Pirates of the Caribbean with Black Pearl being Captain Jack Black’s ship. The performance is a way to question identity in a increasingly globalized world while being aware of its fluidity and constantly shifting definition.

Performance starts on the 22nd of May at 10am and continues until the 24th May, 10pm (60 hours non stop).