How do we move on with a heritage of violent conflict and collective trauma and what is to be done about the ensuing dilemmas of memory? 

Abhishek Thapar, born in Moga, Punjab in the 1980s, went on a search for the truth(s) of the past together with his mother, father and sister, he re-visited his childhood home: a house that had disappeared, a place they all thought they had forgotten and which yet persisted, preserved in a jar of haunting images, between the conflicting priorities of official histories and the personal memories of three generations. In a final pursuit of closure, the family returned to the house in Moga – and moved back in. Together they created a work of art... 

My home at the Intersection complicates reductive perceptions of Punjab’s recent history, producing an imagination that goes beyond dichotomies of perpetrators and victimhood, outside and inside, terrorism and resistance. 

In the intimate setting of his performance, Thapar unfolds moments from a personal journey into a contorted past in dialogue with documents from an attempt of a ritual of - ‘going back, to make sure that you have forgotten about the past.’

Credits

Concept, Text, Performance: Abhishek Thapar along with Venu Thapar, Shveta Grover and Ashok Thapar

Dramaturgical Support: Maria Rößler

Text Advice: Divya Nadkarni

Advisors: Floris van Delft and Jeroen Fabius

Cinematographer: Sahib Gill

Film Editing: Jeanette Groenendaal and Rinku Kalsy

Music Composition: Kabeer Kathpalia

Costumes: Loise Braganza

Primary Research: Abhishek Thapar and Swati Simha

With contributions from: Dr. Sudha Thapar, Dr. Neelu Koura, Dr. Pawan Thapar and Karan

Special Thanks: Chandana Sarma, Arash Qajar, Amandeep Sandhu, Jimmy Grima, Barbara van Lindt, Juul Beeren, Vera van Baal, Martin Brans, Mirko Lazovic. 

Co-produced by: DAS Theatre, Amsterdam 

India Tour produced by afra tafri creations, supported by Fonds Podiumkunsten

ABHISHEK THAPAR: Moga (IN)/Amsterdam (NL) works as an Independent theatre and performance maker, performer, teacher and artist based in Amsterdam. His work unfolds at the intersection of contemporary theatre, social art practice and post-colonial epistemologies. He often collaborates with non-professional actors and creates intimate portraits in immersive environments and participatory formats. His works have a social and political dimension with a documentary approach to it. His works have been produced and presented in more than 15 countries around the world. Selected works are: My home at the Intersection (2017), Surpassing the Beeline (2018), Reverse Engineering (2019), The Art of Walking (2020), Cow is a Cow is a Cow (2021), White Money (2021), Goodbye Erdoğan (2022). 

His latest Project Lacuna Kitchen (2023) co-produced by Ruhrfestspiele and Kampanel (Germany) in collaboration with kitchen workers, focuses on invisible labor and unheard stories from the European gastronomy and hospitality industry. www.lacuna.kitchen

Thapar holds a post-graduate diploma in Physical Theatre from London International School for Performing Arts (2010-12) and a Master in Theatre degree from DAS Theatre, Amsterdam (2015-17).