South Mumbai exhibition brings alive historic Kolkata neighbourhood

Starting today till July if you drop by Mumbai Art Room in Colaba youll find yourself surrounded by artefacts images books videos recordings and other mixed media works that bring alive the sights and sounds of Chitpur a historic neighbourhood in KolkataA part of the Chitpur Local project was reactivation of Diamond Library a 139yearold publishing house in the neighbourhood which is a repository of more than 100yearold manuscripts of Jatra a form of Bengali travelling folk theatreTitled Chitpur dis Local the exhibition brings to the city traces of an ongoing social art project Chitpur Local initiated in November 2013 by Kolkatabased artist collective Hamdasti Persian partnershipThe experimental street project which led to a public art festival in early 2015 was initiated by four artists from Hamdasti mdash Manas Acharya Nilanjan Das Sumona Chakravarty and Varshita Khaitan mdash in collaboration with more than 30 people from the local community including shop owners students and residents of Battola or Jatrapara on Chitpur road one of the oldest in KolkataA Jatra performance by students of The Oriental Seminary one of the oldest schools in KolkataThe road has now been renamed as Rabindra Sarani after its most famous resident Rabindranath Tagore The exhibition explores whether art loses relevance if shifted from its original site We believe that art should be able to engage with the audience and begin new conversations else it will remain a redundant archive Instead of recreating the fest in Mumbai we have brought those aspects which are more relevant to the city informs the 29yearold artistChitpur in contextIn preIndependent India Chitpur was known as the colonial black town populated by Indians in north Kolkata as opposed to the British white town on the other side Supported by prominent Bengali families living on either side of the arterial stretch the neighbourhood transformed into a commercial hub for popular traditions like Jatra travelling Folk theatre printmaking publishing jewellerymaking and bamboo crafts The private courtyards bookshops and rowaks public street corner platforms turned into shared spaces However with time and movement the road began to lose its sheen and some of its traditions tooStamps created by local craftsmen for the public memory card gameYoull find the street lined with Jatra posters as there are many booking offices But those who live around have no connection with them since the artists are scattered across the city The bylanes also house jewellery makers and bamboo craftsmen but its no longer the hub she informsSumona ChakravartyBring in the localThrough the project the participants developed a popup museum and a public memory card game to reactivate some of the dying traditions and shared spaces The students of the Oriental Seminary school mapped the neighbourhood and identified shop owners and residents to discover the history of the areaJewellery design books along with moulds which were part of the popup museumEach of them contributed objects that they believed represented Chitpur These included old wooden print blocks jewellery design books Jatra costumes old camera negatives used for etching on metal and antiques says Chakravarty who has incorporated some elements for the exhibit along with sound recordings of locals cherishing Chitpurs historyFor the public memory card game school students collaborated with woodblock and stampmakers to create symbols representing the locality The audience had to match them with photographs of the places she says Hamdasti also plans to host a series of events themed around questions of social art practice in Mumbai neighbourhoods building new partnerships with the city to stay true to its Persian nameA craftsman showcases the art of woodcutting to create printing blocks a practice traditionally associated with the historical neighbourhoodManas Acharya Varshita Khaitan Nilanjan DasSchool students hawk stories with the storybox as part of The Diamond Library ProjectA printmaker prints a typical poster at a Lithography press in ChitpurCelebrating the neighbourhood during the Chitpur Local Festival in March last yearJewellery moulds commonly found in Garanhatta Lane in ChitpurTill July 23 11 am to 7 pm Tuesday to Saturday AT Mumbai Art Room Pipewala Building Fourth Pasta Lane Colaba