This summer, the Blackwood’s public programming centres on a residency by local artists Tazeen Qayyum and Faisal Anwar which will culminate in a public event on Saturday August 24th. In preparation for this event, Qayyum and Anwar are the Blackwood’s Artists-in-Residence from June to August 2013 to utilize the spaces and resources of the Blackwood towards the production of their contribution to this event, while simultaneously working with and mentoring two Work-Study students hired to assist them.

Bollywood Monster Mashup Festival

Saturday August 24, 1–11pm
Celebration Square, Mississauga

On Saturday August 24th from 1pm to 11pm, the artists presented ByOb, which stands for “Bring Your Own Bollywood” at the third annual Bollywood Monster Mashup Festival at Celebration Square in downtown Mississauga.

There was a photo studio set-up inside a tent at the festival where participants had their photos taken and superimposed onto original Bollywood posters in real time. Participants were given minimal props and costumes, and asked to mimic the poses and expressions of the actors in the original posters.

ByOb brings a visual art component to this one-day event by setting up a photo studio in a tent and inviting the public to have their photo taken, recreating famous Bollywood movie posters. The artists will work with the participants in how they are dressed and which props will be used for the shoot. The experience is a playful one where the public can momentarily mimic an icon of Indian Cinema. Once the image is taken, the artists will use their digital composition skills to create playful restagings of the iconic Bollywood posters that are being referenced.

This temporary access to and reversal of movie stardom and celebrity culture enables a reading of mass media images from the side of having participated or witnessed the various stages of image-production. The veil of image fabrication, and particularly the endless fabulations that are rendered possible with inventive stagings of tableaux vivants followed by photo(shop)montage techniques, will hopefully generate a better understanding of the myth-making power of images. Bollywood is a distinctive force in the creation of myths and images—it is, after all, a secular and spectacular manifestation of the syncretic. In other words, its amalgamating powers are writ large on the global cultural landscape. Embedded in Bollywood's hyper-plastic copying prowess, is an omnivorous palette that functions like a formidable machine where references reverberate, tropes transform, themes revolve, cultures mix, and styles collide. In short, mashups in action—we are bringing our own, are you bringing yours?