The Daisy Chain (1998)

Overview

This project brings together five South Asian men from across Canada. Each of the men express in a short video-vignette a particular experience of their carnal body in relation to queer 'male' sexuality. This video-chain-letter originated in Calgary where Kevin d'Souza recorded a short message and then passed it on to the next participant who in turn recorded his own message and then circulated it to the next participant. The result is a series of short postcards: How to Feel Free by Atif Siddiqui, Biryani is My Business by Arif Noorani, Ghar Ke Khani by Imtiaz Popat, Devotion Desire by Himmat Shinhat, and Cancer by Kevin d'Souza. This project, through the process of self/body documentation, was transformative; leading out of the pessimism of colonial discourse by making new narratives and by exhibiting imperfect bodies in the realm of the fetishized/advertised/racialized body.