Octo-Durga is a three-chapter animation that simultaneously imagines a primordial past and an alternative future. Taking the form of a sacred text on ethics, polity, and love, that could also be a proposal for a science-fiction universe, it questions the obsolete dualities of humanity and nature, of earth and mind, of technology and culture, to acknowledge the vast changes and disruptions that are taking place in the planet’s oceans. A cephalopod dancer character emerges from the depths of the oceans on one of Jupiter’s moons, Europa. Summoning a multimedia manifestation of an indigenous ancient-Indian goddess—one of the initiators of a parallel primary multiverse—Octo-Durga is “journey of unearthing multi-dimensional oceanic sensory and para-sensory conversations,” in the words of the artists. The octopus–goddess “speaks on behalf of the eternal oceanic bridges between worlds, hears, and brings humble almost edible visual–poetic–sonic gifts for her lovers.”

Created together with Indian artists BaRiya (Riya Raagini and Pratyush Pushkar) Navarro’s animation invites us to dive into a state of mind that connects with an underwater world where tentacular and meditative visions speculate about new forms of living based on solidarity and communality.

Riya Raagini and Pratyush Pushkar, “Poems around and agendered Alien Cephalopod deity aka Octo-Durga,” TBA21–Academy and TBA21, 2020. Download HERE