PROJECTS
Jallianwala Bagh
Creating awareness of our history, abuse of power and biases by re-mediating Jallianwala Bagh in to a smell and sound narrative and installation.
When humans undergo traumatic experiences it leads them to catharsis and often with this they forge a new identity.
Jallianwala Bagh, a massacre, a tragic event that shook every human and particularly the people under the Raj. Its aftermath was that it led them to question their identity which fueled the national freedom struggle. This interactive installation explores this historical narrative and remediates the story through smell and portrays the trauma felt by people. It shows how people in power reduce others and strip them off the personhood. By retelling this narrative it draws a parallel and wonders about similar events in current times.
It further lets the audience experience how design plays an important role today in creating strong narratives for change focusing on olfaction and sound in particular.
Identity Stories
A Chronicle of lives of everyday Indians - showing how their identities and culture emerge through inclusion rather than exclusion.
This interactive biographical installation explains the stories of its two protagonists through mapping their experience into scents. It talks about how new identities emerge with mobility and new distinct patterns that are created,
It is a dialog of identities in today’s globalized world where we hold more than one, articulated in smell and voice of the protagonist.
It further lets the audience experience a culture and its distinct smells and interact with it, making sense of that culture through real people’s stories.
Mir Abdul Attarwala
Creating awareness and empathy about culture, issues and people of war-torn Kashmir
It is not reasonable to look for virtues among an oppressed people, nor is it fair to descant on their vices.
Sir Walter Lawrence - The Valley of Kashmir
The project places the user in an environment which when explored describes the deep divisions and the everyday issues faced by people in Kashmir. It does this through a mix of olfactory, visual, and poetic responses to user interactions.
The story:
“Amidst the surrounding beauty and conflict of Kashmir, a young apprentice learning the craft of perfumery tries to contain his feelings in perfume (attar). The perfume, some good some bad, talk about the tales that emerge in any conflict zone.”
Xeno 500
A futuristic take on society and xenophobia
Set in an alternative timeline of India, this exhibit portrays a situation in which xenophobia is treated as a social evil and a critical condition.
The belief in this new India is that contribution and cooperation by all citizens is what leads to the maximum development of the urban atmosphere.
The mandate is to identify xenophobic individuals and help them recover from this primitive human condition but by using despotic methods, portraying the inherent hypocrisy of the unchallenged narrative.
As a by-product of the treatment being prescribed using the Xeno500 drug, the individuals tend to have a varying body odor, through which the narrative is experienced.
Diversity in us
Creating awareness about shifting identities today and Xenophobia through Olfactory Interactions.
Common smells coded by culture make it possible to deeply connect with each other and find the I in us. In contemporary times, with increased mobility and migration, we often find it difficult to identify with just one place. we connect with all those places we lived in and tend to mingle and make each culture at least a little part of us. We also connect with these smells which are descriptors of place and culture which now form a part of our own experience and memory. With increased mobility and migration our identity is melange of all the cultures of the places we have lived.
We believe, it is only when we understand and embrace our own diversity would we be able to fight the biases of calling someone ‘Other’, which often results in xenophobia. This idea is converted in to interactive olfactory installation.