The Dance of Life: Sculptures by George K

While my husband and I were in Paris we went with friends to the art district that had narrow, winding streets and small art galleries. Most of the galleries display a single artist’s works for a limited period of time. One of the exhibits stood out for me. It was a series of sculptures of larger-than-life figures beautifully lit in blue. The exhibit was called The Dance of Life. What struck me was the serene expressions on the statue’s faces and their graceful poses.

After looking at the artwork, talked to the clerk and she told me the story behind the figures. The artist was a successful businessman in India. When an earthquake causing a tsunami in the Indian Ocean, it swept him and his twenty-one companions out to sea. He miraculously lived while his friends all died. In all 250,000 people died in the tsunami. The man was profoundly changed by this event. Instead of feeling guilty that he’d lived when so many others had died, he decided to live a life that had more meaning. He changed his name keeping only the letter “k” and gave away all his possessions, as was a custom among his people at certain times in their life. His new name was George K. George K became a photographer, poet and artist. To make the figures he took photos of a famous Indian dancer, Mavin Khoo who danced traditional Indian dances. The ancient dances were forbidden in India during the time of British rule and were almost lost, but fortunately the area under French control allowed the dance so the tradition wasn’t lost. The dance of life has a rhythm to it whether we are aware of it or not. If we can learn to dance with the flow even when hardships hit, we begin to learn to live life gracefully and to find happiness. George K took a terrible tragedy and used it as a spiritual awakening to transform his life into one with more meaning.                   Have you had any challenging experiences in your life that profoundly changed you into a more aware, spiritual person?   Here is a link to an article about George K and a series of  fiberglass figurine schuptures of Kathakali dancers. http://www.mybangalore.com/article/0809/george-k-at-apparao-art-galleryub-city-.html

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