Kolkata, October 2011: crowds of people are in the streets, and there are bamboo temples as far as the eyes can see. It is Durga Puja time. The festival of the goddess Durga is a state of exception for the city every year. But this year, something had been different: For the first time, a foreign artist had been commissioned to build one of the temporary temples - Gregor Schneider, Ra room-artist from Mönchengladbach-Rheydt.

Gregor Schneider came to be known in 2001 by his “Totes Haus u r” – he rebuilt rooms of the “Haus u r” in Unterheydener Street 12, Rheydt, Germany, in modified form in the German Pavilion in Venice, a project that earned him the Art Biennale’s “Golden Lion”. Ten years later, Schneider travelled to Kolkata, bringing along a model of the Unterheydener Street.

The adventure began when Gregor Schneider in 2010 came to Kolkata to participate in a debate on public art. He developed the idea of building dream houses for this large metropolis – only to discover that such dream houses are erected every year in the shape of the temporary temples of the Durga Puja festival. During the festival, a section of the street in front of his “Haus u r” should be reconstructed in the capital of West Bengal. Due to a lack of space, Schneider positioned the 30-metres-long street vertically, with the statue of the goddess displayed in the basement room “below” the street.

The project was meant to combine concept art from Germany with Bengal craftsmanship. In October last year, the project has been realised by the Goethe-Institut in cooperation with local co-host Ekdalia Evergreen Club. This event for millions of people is the overture of India’s “Year of Germany” that is celebrated in both countries under the title “Infinite Opportunities – Germany and India 2011–2012“ on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

Durga Puja is one of the greatest Hindu festivals in Bengal and the whole of India. What is this festival about?

The Durga Puja is centred on the goddess Durga. Everywhere in the city, temporary temples, the so-called Pandals, are built, in which the goddess “lives” for 5 days. The history of the festival goes back to ancient, mythical times.

Why is the Hooghly River so important for the Puja?

As a distributary of the Ganges, the Hooghly River is the only connection of that holy river to the Ocean in India because the proper Ganges flows through Bangladesh. For this reason, the connection to the river is of eminent importance; the statues of the goddess are made from clay, coming from the river in which they will be drowned at the end of the festival. This rite is a symbolic representation of the goddess Durga’s voyage, coming across the river from her father’s house in the Himalayas, where she will return to in the end crossing the river again.

Is the religious nature of the festival still maintained?

Without any doubt, the Puja is still a religious festival. But today, it is concerned with art in equal measure. The Pandals’ facades are often designed elaborately. From the outside, most of them resemble traditional palaces or temples. But there are always some with a modern look. So, for example, Harry Potter’s castle had been recreated and last year a World Football Championship stadium. This year, the German Pandal by Gregor Schneider attracted the greatest attention.

What do you – as project coordinator and an inhabitant of Kolkata – think of this “German street for Kolkata”?

When I was asked to work for this project, the idea immediately appealed to me. I thought that Gregor Schneider’s concept, to suddenly expose the illuminated Durga statues in a dark basement room, was very charming, because Durga is the goddess of strength and in her, the victory over the evil is celebrated. That the concept had been developed by a German made it even more interesting.

How has it been realised?

At the beginning, there was the idea of cooperation; the concept from Germany was to be built by Indian workers and artists. In preparation of the realisation, Gregor Schneider came to India in June to discuss the matter with the artists and the chief design engineer of the Pandal. A lively debate evolved on the question which alterations to the design were necessary. At the end, the artists agreed that the design’s realisation would be even easier than that of traditional Pandals. With which adventure they were getting involved, they did not fully understand at that point I think.

What did become of the cooperation?

At the end, it did not work very well. Gregor Schneider is an artist, and I respect this fact. He wanted to have a 360-degrees-artwork with a lot of details, his own Pandal. But this is something that does not work considering the masses of people. They are shoved in the interior of the Pandal to see the goddess for a few seconds and then edged out again. There is no chance to pause and really experience this work of art. As a result, people are fascinated by its size and not by the details. The Indian artists regarded the work that way and therefore considered the details pointless, while to Gregor Schneider they were an essential part of his work. In my view, both sides are justified – they had a different understanding of the Pandal’s role.

That sounds as if there had been an artistic and cultural misunderstanding!

There had been communication problems and, maybe, mutually lacking understanding of the other’s art. The Indian artists were given a contemporary art concept from Europe, something they are not acquainted with. They translated it into a work of architecture according to their knowhow and their long-term experience with Pandal building. For me acting as a mediator between both sides it proved a rather instructing experience. My mistake had been not to realise that one and the same thing could be perceived quite differently.

What had been the reaction of the visitors of the festival?  

Many were confused; they thought this object would be a building or a shopping mall. One had to explain that it was a street. But then questions came: Why a street and not a building? Why is the goddess Durga sitting in a street? It was very hard for them to understand the concept of this prominent person who had come from so far away. The people want to escape from reality, so a Pandal should look like a palace or another grand building. Gregor Schneider’s work was enormous indeed. But for the fact that it looked like something real, it was not especially interesting for the people. As a work of art it probably has not been esteemed as highly as it would have been esteemed in Europe.

After the Puja, Gregor Schneider wants to take parts of the Pandal home to Germany. Does this not hurt the religious feelings of the people living here?

I think Schneider knows that everything is centred around the goddess and the idea of a cycle. Now, he wants to take something home from the Durga festival to his home town. The idea of the cycle is rather near to Hinduism so, in a way, it will become some kind of cooperation again ...  

The whole project is also documented in a film. What is this documentary about?

The Goethe-Institut commissioned the renowned director Nilanjan Bhattacharya to make a documentary on the work for the Durga Puja and the building of the Pandals. He has been granted creative freedom. The result is something more than a mere documentary – a film on the conception of public space in Kolkata and its transformation during the festivals, for instance by Gregor Schneider’s intervention.

Translation from German by Christian Rochow