After Taboo

Tate Modern 1st March 2025 – Performance

Storms of the Heart: Queering the Cosmos of Memory by Poulomi Desai

Storms of the Heart is a new series of performance evocations created by Poulomi Desai and Usurp Art artists. This work imagines queer South Asian futures through the lens of a turbulent, powerless, and often forgotten past that includes UK South Asian outsider, queer clubs and alternative cultures since the 1980’s. The piece explores themes of power and powerlessness through vignettes that address the tensions between self-affirmation and societal rejection, liberation, love, and loss. Drawing from South Asian Diaspora histories of resilience, mythology, queer theory, and postcolonial thought, it navigates a world where we are revered and reviled, powerful and powerless.

Blending South Asian rituals and noise art with live multimedia elements and movement-based choreography, Storms of the Heart creates an immersive, visceral experience of what it means to exist and love across time, space and AI, despite the fears and conflicts of the present. In this world, community memory, identity, and queer liberation exist in fluid, dynamic states. Tate’s South Tank serves as both a repository and a membrane—a space to reflect on what we leave behind, preserve, and dream for the future.

Invited artists: Raisa Kabir, Andy Kumar, Jaivant Patel, Ms. Mohammed, Osman Yousefzada