About the Book: The Cursed Land of Lustful Women and The Power of Storytelling
The Cursed Land of Lustful Women is a devised performance created as part of an art residency. The stories (in the form of a devised text) told in the performance are being published in this book with an artist’s note. These are tales of trees, forests and their deities from the artist’s point of view.
One rarely comes across voices of forest communities and women in ancient literary sources, though enchanting forests and rivers are described in the most enigmatic way. One often comes across the splendour of trees as an overwhelming theme. So much of this beauty we have exchanged today for an artificial idea of luxury.
This performance attempts at bringing out this forgotten magic. Drawing on ancient Indian history and mythology, the Cursed Land of Lustful Women is a unique artistic vision that brings to life the timeless link between humanity and nature through performance, poetry, storytelling, and commentary.
Using the age-old Indian motif of the female and the tree, scenes from the Jātaka tales, and poems from the ancient book Gāthāsaptasati, Gupta passionately shows how we can confront our environmentally challenged future by reconnecting with the wisdom of the past.
Quotes from reviews
“A rare performance text that dances as much as it speaks, The Cursed Land of Lustful Women is a spell cast through storytelling—a sacred act of reclamation.”– Akash
“In The Cursed Land of Lustful Women, Dr. Kanika Gupta crafts a tapestry where myth breathes, and performance writes its own rhythms. This is no ordinary book—it is a ritual, a summoning, a stage upon which the sacred and sensual entwine.” – Kumar
Kanika Gupta is an art historian, trained dancer, filmmaker, and author whose work bridges the worlds of ancient Indian art, mythology, and storytelling. She holds a Master’s in Art History from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda, Gujarat, and a PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, specializing in the study of ancient Indian motifs.
An accomplished writer, Kanika has authored Lupadakhe – Unknown Master Sculptors of Ancient India (2019) along with numerous research papers on Indian sculpture, aesthetics, painting, and mythology. Her latest work, The Cursed Land of Lustful Women and The Power of Storytelling (2023), continue her exploration of history, art, and cultural narratives.
Kanika was also the only Indian selected for the Slovene Ethnographic Museum’s artist-in-residence for the TAKING CARE Project, an initiative focused on reinterpreting ethnographic collections through contemporary perspectives.
Through her diverse body of work, Kanika brings forgotten stories, ancient artistry, and untold histories to life, making them accessible to modern audiences.