Cha Wali

Cha Wali, 2019
Participatory Performance
Bike, artificial marigolds, statue of Guru Nanak, gold basket, hot drinks dispensers
Documentation - Digital prints

This is the bike Dhissou uses to perform her piece Cha Wali, a political act critiquing the caste, class and gendered associations of labour in India and rural Punjab. Dhissou takes the bike into the city, serving people fresh Indian tea and transforming the role of the 'Cha Wali' through Langar - the community kitchen of a Sikh Gurdwara, which serves meals to all free of charge. This performance is an act of service and a gesture of equality. Dhissou is a Birmingham artist whose playful and often interactive work explores belonging, space and how we form our sense of self.

Cha Wali, consists of two pieces within this particular presentation of the work. An installation and two documentary photographs. The concept originates from typically male street vendors in India selling Cha (Indian tea) from bicycles. In seeing a lack of innovation in Subodh Gupta’s Three Cows, I felt compelled to embody in performance the role of a Cha Wala . The noun itself speaks for only males who take on this role. In the piece I wanted to not only subvert this role but to also activate spaces and conversations around cultural phenomena, specifically the act of sharing Cha with the public. The British made Pendleton bike combined with a DIY aesthetic, of silk marigolds, a statuette of Guru Nanak (ducked taped to the handle bars) is typical to the aesthetic of a Cha Wala on the streets of India, yet this performance also seeks to understand the concept of gifting as all cups of Cha were given for free. Documentation shows interactions with different demographics of the public, ranging from workers of the city, students from the art school, homeless, and local builders - some of which recognised and connected with the act.