“What have I done to you?”, is an interactive performance of the artist dressed in British camouflage uniform. He washes and wipes the feet of various participants, as they recorded their random thoughts and personal information such as name, date, time, location and approximate temperature on paper.

The act of washing another’s feet can be observed as a sign of service, respect, dominance, subversiveness and more. In India, elders’ feet are touched in reverence; the young or those less experienced symbolically bow down to the greater knowledge of someone older and request their blessings. The feet in some cultures are considered an unclean part of the body, therefore in some religious places one must wash their feet prior to entering them. The title of the performance refers to the words that Jesus, spoke to his twelve disciples on the eve of his capture and crucifixion. Christ washed each disciples’ feet, (including his betrayer’s) and inspired them to do the same.

The performance illustrates unconditional service of the British Indian soldier’s during the World Wars. They zealously served the empire and metaphorically speaking, they were washing away the political turmoil instituted by governments. The subtle traces of the performance, go beyond the actual act of washing feet. The artist dressed as a soldier, constructs a series of undetermined reactions from the participants. His ethnicity, built and apparent silence might register fear, doubt, amusement, questioning or even mirth. Through the controlled actions of the performance, feelings alternate between the washer and the washed. The latter find themselves vulnerable, as they try to translate their thoughts and experiences on paper, as their feet are being washed and wiped. All these nuances of the performance raises various questions, and highlights the dynamics among the British and their colonial troops, between dominance and subservience, with the self and the other.

“What have I done to you?”, was developed during Baptist Coelho’s Artist-in-Residence, supported by and at the Delfina Foundation, London, 2011-12. The residency was also supported by Creative India Foundation, Hyderabad; Pump House Gallery, London. In 2011, the performance was first realised at Pump House Gallery, London. In 2013, the audio/video recording of the performance was first screened as part of the artist’s touring solo screening, “under my skin… under your skin” at Nepal Bharat Library, Kathmandu. The screening was curated by Lina Vincent Sunish.