Impersonator—or in layman’s language, Bahurupiya—was an old form of performance art in which men and women used to portray themselves like gods or goddesses. They used to wear costumes and makeup to look like gods and present themselves in public places to earn their living. This art form was a source of living for poor artists from rural Bengal and had its own religious significance among the people. The aim of my performance art is to establish a connection between a rural Bahurupiya and an urban, pandemic-hit common man.

As a matter of fact, we know that a face mask has become an undetachable part of our body in the present scenario of COVID-19. Every human has his/her own individuality but by covering our faces with a mask, somehow all of us have become Bahurupiya. Our real identities, our faces, are hidden behind the mask which we wear. As per medical recommendations, we keep changing our masks on a daily basis which changes our appearance, too. It can only be called a circle of life where a child, who was entertained by Bahurupiya a decade or two back has himself become a COVID-hit symbolic Bahurupiya. Evidently, the old performance art of Bahurupiya has become the widely noticed identity of common man in urban jungles and will continue to be until the situation normalizes.

In my performance video “Bahurupi,” I have tried to personify a traditional Bahurupi who is dressing up as mother goddess Maa Kali just before going out into a crowd, where the Bahurupi artist will perform to earn some money for the family. Here I painted my face red and black, and added ornaments to portray the Goddess Kali. The video was played in reverse for a visual treatment.

Next I tried to portray the common people who are trying to adapt to the new normal and its protocols. As per the Covid protocols, we have to maintain social distancing along with the use of hand sanitizer and mask-wearing; in this new normal, masks have become an undetachable part of our daily life. With the daily use of different kinds of masks, our appearances change and hence we are also becoming Bahurupiya in today’s world.

The final segment of the video shows an artist who is personifying a Bahurupi in this new normal situation. Nowadays while she is getting ready and putting on her makeup, she realized that she has to wear a mask as per the Covid protocols, so instead of wearing it she painted it on her face to show its detachability from our daily life.