The Mushroom that Swallowed the Moon Whole (2024)
Photo from Scene 3 of the premier of the South Asian folk opera at the Luminary Arts Center, MN Opera, Minneapolis, MN. September 20-21, 2024.
‘The Mushroom that….’ is a folk opera oscillating between fact and friction while hovering over the year 2024. It is 'godhuli bela' - a time of twilight - a time for mosquitoes, thresholds, and transits. A child in an imperiled and disputed patch of forest in Central India sits over an underground fungal network and writes his nightly letter to the moon. He meets a strange-looking and stranger-sounding mushroom. He is intrigued by her glassy cap that reflects the drone-filled sky, her gossamer spores that entrap the story-listener, her vascular gills that speak truths, and her labyrinth of mycelium that carries them.
This piece uses narrative memory, oral histories, characters from our natural and cultural worlds, and a live storytelling orchestra to conduct a creative inquiry into climate colonialism. It is inspired by the influential work of 'The Third Eye Portal - a community campaign in India to co-create radical pedagogical practices addressing caste, climate, and gender. It is meant to communicate complex ideas about place, privilege, mobility, and climate migration. Through this piece, Ritika hopes to expand access to artistic experiences that center South Asian musical theater and modes of oral storytelling.
Ritika developed parts of this work inspired by conversations with indigenous climate activists in New Mexico during her residency at the Santa Fe Arts Institute, and during her artist residency at the Tofte Lake Center, Ely, MN. She is indebted to the powerful work of filmmaker and photographer Bhumika Saraswati in understanding the connections between heat, gender, and caste hierarchies.
Creative Team:
Story, Music, Creative Lead: Ritika Ganguly
Libretto, Music, Graphic Design: Shinjan Sengupta
Scenic and Costume Design: Joshua Martin
Artistic Direction: Masanari Kawahara
Musicians: May Klug, Praful Kelkar, Cameron Fassett, Shinjan Sengupta, Clay Man Soo, Abhinav Sharma, Ritika Ganguly
Sand Art: Sofia Padilla
Narrator: Vusumuzi Zulu
U of M collaborator: Dr. Nida Sajid (Dept. of AMES)
Supported by:
The Imagine Fund Grant, Institute for Advanced Study, University of Minnesota
2024 IDEAS Award, University of Minnesota
Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Minnesota
Luminary Arts Center, MN Opera