Use like water is a nine-day performance by Indian artist Nikhil Chopra. It starts as a journey he undertakes through the deserts and seaside areas of the UAE and Oman and culminates with a performance, re-presenting his travels to audiences in Sharjah during the biennial's opening week. Chopra explores the layers beneath the region's shiny veneer by focusing on nature and how relationships developed over the centuries. The performance's surprising ending is also meant to send a message as to how things have developed in the UAE, a country he lived in as a child.
Medrar.TV met with Chopra during the biennial's opening week and spoke to him about the journey he undertook and his experience leading an austere almost monk life lifestyle during his travels in the region.