INDER SALIM, 65 From Tral, Kashmir
CURRENTLY WORKING ON The Srinagar Biennale. Performance artist and poet known for his shock performances
He chopped off the little finger of his left hand at a secret ceremony in 2002. Atop the loha pul, iron bridge, on the Yamuna, in the presence of a few friends. That hot Sunday morning, he had carried a surgical knife, a bottle of Betadine, a bandage, a drawing board and cameras. Then, in a Dialogue with Power Plant, Shrill Across a Dead River, he severed the digit. Almost a decade later, the memory of the pain has receded, just the stump of the finger remains.
“Extreme performance art?” “No, gentle,” says Inder Salim, who has been dabbling in the medium for 25 years.
Salim, along with a…
