India’s many faces on display at the Adelaide Festival

very late at night he sleeps and at dawn he begins again

When Australian writer, director and actor Stephen House first visited India 30 years ago, he knew he would return to the country for which he has developed an abiding love.

“I turned 21 there actually,” he says. “I loved India then, and said I would come back - and did - it just took a long time!”

House finally made his second journey to his beloved country in 2007 as part of a literature residency that he received from Asia-link. India and especially the people he met along his journey, are the subject of his new exhibition of photographs and accompanying poetry titled Northern India - Faces And Words which showed at the Oz Asia Festival in Adelaide until recently.

The journey and exhibition concentrated on Haridwar, Rishikesh, Pushkar and Varanasi. Besides their religious significance, House chose these places for “how special they were to me at that young age.”

The photographs and poetry in the exhibition are mainly portraits of the common people he encountered and befriended during his stay -- holy men, beggar boys, snake charmers and labourers.

“I was very fortunate to eat with families in their homes, to pray in temples and be part of religious celebrations and rituals, to visit special places in the hidden nooks and crannies of slums or lanes of cities and spend time with sadhus and holy men,” recollects House. “Making a really close friend and spending some very special time together was really memorable. We are in close contact now.”

House also touches upon some of the disturbing aspects of Indian society today -- poverty, begging, and especially child labour. In one of the poems he writes, the little boy sings songs to God as he sweeps the steps each day at dawn he is always happy it seems anyway his face is like sunshine smiling wide after sweeping he scrubs floors serves meals washes clothes works in kitchen and more and more and plenty more

“It made me look at the exploitation and abuse of children. In general India is a very child-caring and child-friendly culture, but children in poverty can be in situations to be exploited. I often worried about certain kids that I encountered… but what does one do.”

Besides his observations of the Indian society, the images and words in the exhibition also eloquently chart House’s personal transformation.

In one of the accompanying poems, House writes: i am an island of ignorance floating alone here seeking to understand to know as they do and bit by bit i do as gentle waves of ancient belief lap upon my shore gradually eroding stubborn rocky banks constructed and sealed from my western life and way

“I was raised pretty much as an atheist, though in a caring environment with great human values,” says Stephen. “India gave me what I felt was missing in my life -- a relationship with God -- even the first time I visited as a very young man.”

“Many of my beliefs have a strong Hindu foundation -- my yoga practice and meditation stems from Hindu philosophy. Prayer, meditation and deity worship is included in my daily yoga practice,” he says. “India and Hinduism has gradually eroded my non-belief and given me the gift of inner consciousness/God.”

In fact, his yogic practice has taken him back to India. He is just back from a stay at an ashram, the Yoga Vidya Gurukul just out of Nasik.

“As a devoted yoga practitioner I chose to take time out to train as a yoga teacher on this journey. I trained in traditional Indian Hatha Yoga. My aim was fulfilled,” he said.

He also made new writing work and new visual arts work mainly around Nasik, including a new multi-media work “particularly about a group of men that I met who hung out under a bridge - I did too.”

He is also currently writing his first novel.

“A large section of the book is set in India, which I completed this time around.”

“I was very interested in the way homosexuality exists in India. (It is) quite strong in all areas – not just the modern corners of big cities. I attended the second Mumbai Queer Azadi Zindabad, which was attended by many thousands. I did a series of images on this event and have some plans to make work for queer / gay and lesbian / multicultural events here.”

He also began a work in the ashram, which when complete, he will donate back to the ashram for their use.