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Tamara Jafar

Orange Grove for Central State

-86.211892, 39.769519

Central State Hospital, known as a psychiatric treatment hospital, operated in Indianapolis from 1896-1994. Through a musical conversation with the former (involuntary and voluntary) inhabitants of Central State Hospital, Tamara Jafar created Orange Grove for Central State by asking herself how she would greet her past self, fellow women, and queer artists in the moments in time when they would have been viewed through medical and social lens of possessing a form of mental illness. Known for her work that explores the role of cultural figures and imaginative spaces, Orange Grove for Central State creates a playful, and yet familiar, lullaby for a misunderstood creative soul. This lullaby, complete with the comforting xylophone-like sounds, is expanded into a space where the collective sum of inhabitants—past and present—can move together through time. The lullaby track embraces an imaginary intersection for the living and the dead of Central State Hospital.

• Duration: 03:26

• Year: 2017

• Commissioned by: Sound Expeditions