Stamps Gallery 201 South Division Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
Impossible Conversations is an exhibition and film installation by artists and filmmakers, Pratāp Rughani and David Chung. The film centres on a seemingly impossible dialogue between Arno Michaelis, a former Neo-Nazi gang founder and Pardeep Kaleka, son of the Sikh Temple President, Satwant Singh Kaleka, one of seven people killed in the shooting attack at the Oak Creek Sikh Temple (Gurudwara) by a white supremacist in 2012.
The film installation explores what happens when – for over a decade – Pardeep and Arno committed to a path of restorative communication — to listen deeply and connect with what motivates each other in the genesis and aftermath of atrocity.
How does healing begin? From the toxic polarization, division and extreme racist violence that resulted in one of the worst mass shootings at a religious site in American history, Pardeep insists that complete healing must eventually be a collective process for all, to liberate both sides.
Listen: U-M Arts Initiative (University of Michigan) podcast interview with Professor Pratāp Rughani on “Impossible Conversations” host Mark Clegg. This episode of Creative Currents was produced by Mark Clegg and Jessica Jencks, audio engineer, Audrey Banks. Our original theme music was composed and performed by Ansel Neely, a student at the University of Michigan School of Music Theater and Dance.