A Film Screening of We in a 1 Room Kitchen, Work Starts Now, and Blood Earth, and a Discussion Led by Kush Badhwar
On April 30th 2026, G.A.S. Lagos hosted Work Starts Now, a film screening and discussion led by current resident Kush Badhwar. The programme brought together three of Kush’s short films: We in a 1 Room Kitchen, Work Starts Now, and Blood Earth, which explore labour, resistance, and creative expression, from the power of song in political movements to the rhythms of everyday survival in contemporary urban India.
The evening opened with an introduction from Kush, who spoke about the vision behind the event and his desire to connect with the local film community midway through his residency, using the screening as an opportunity to share ideas and invite feedback. The programme also served as a gesture of self-introduction to audiences interested in his practice, while opening up conversations around decolonising dominant Nigerian perceptions of Indian cinema.
In Work Starts Now (2014), Kush reflected on the making and unmaking of political rallies, foregrounding the labour behind their construction and the camaraderie that emerges in their dismantling. We in a 1 room kitchen (2013), developed from a trip to Mumbai undertaken by Kush and Delhi-based artist collective WALA (Akansha Rastogi, Sujit Mallik and Paribartana Mohanty), moves across three sites: a rooftop of an apartment block, a hidden corner of a fort, and a trash-filled riverbed all in Mumbai. Through these locations, the film stages a set of conversations that engage perspectives on ‘development’, ‘history’, and ‘waste’, reflecting on various layers that make up the city. Blood Earth (2013) centres on Kucheipadar village in Odisha, a bauxite-rich region marked by conflict between Adivasi communities and mining interests since India’s economic liberalisation. The film traces how song operates as both a creative and political force within the Kashipur resistance movement, interweaving moments of farming, village life, political assembly, and the act of recording. Through this, Kush explores interplay between voice, music, silence, and noise.
Following the screenings, Kush expanded on the ideas and themes explored across the films. The evening concluded with a lively Q&A and discussion, where attendees engaged with the works’ political and aesthetic dimensions, the ethics of documentary filmmaking, and the relationship between sound, memory, and collective action.
Event Details
Date: 30th April, 2026
Time: 4:00pm - 7:00pm
Location: 9b, Hakeem Dickson Drive, off T.F. Kuboye Road, Oniru, Lagos
About Kush Badhwar
Kush Badhwar works across filmmaking, artistic and urban research as ongoing processes of being with ideas and places over time. He has been exploring the gradual making of counter-narrative around rapid and drastic changes in uses of water and land around urban peripheries.
Image courtesy of Kush Badhwar.
Kush's residency is realised in collaboration with the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
