Happenchance
An art documentary following four artists — two Australian, two Indian — as they meet, argue and make work together in Kochi during the Biennale.
The Film
Happenchance is an art documentary produced by Moonlight, following four artists — Australia's William Eicholtz, an eminent sculptor, and Louise Rippert, a mandala artist, alongside India's Narayanan Mohanan and the musician Revati Sakalkar — as they explore the unknown setting of Kochi. As the Kochi-Muziris Biennale takes its course, the stakes rise and the artists collaborate to produce installations together.
Moonlight's remit covered both the film and the original music production.
How We Made It
The artists were not illustrating finished work; the body of work only came into being as the Biennale ran its course, so the film was shot without knowing where it would end. The exhibition drew on iconic imagery from both India and the West, and the film holds both.
Building on an established collaboration. Happenchance extends the cross-cultural approach we captured in Lights Across the Sea, the earlier film with the same Australian artists. Eicholtz and Rippert again exchanged skills and ideas with local artists and traditional craftspeople to create a body of work shown in the gallery and the surrounding public areas.
Snakes and Ladders as a conceptual springboard. The artists used the ancient Indian game to explore and re-interpret the symbolic images found on traditional and contemporary boards — angels and gods, flowers, animals, people. The underlying themes of that simple childhood game gave the work, and the film, room to explore luck, fate and karma in life's journey.
Following the parent project. Happenchance sits inside a larger initiative, Serendipitous Happenstance, which exposed six Australian artists to the craft and artisanal practices still available in India today: William Eicholtz, Louise Rippert, Maree Clarke, Mandy Ridley, Catherine Parker and Maggie Baxter. As everyday objects become more expendable, India's place as a world leader in fine crafts — and the tradition of the inter-generational craftsman — continues to intrigue artists looking to renew techniques, processes and ideas.
Original music. The project was scoped as film and original music production, with Revati Sakalkar appearing both as one of the four artists followed and as a musician on the project.
Where It Landed
The film concludes with the opening of the Serendipitous Happenstance exhibition, timed to the opening of the Biennale. It was supported by the Australian Cultural Fund and Creative Partnerships Australia.
Watch the full film: Happenchance
