A nature walk this weekend ties the story of Mumbai’s ecological tensions in conversation with Navjot Altaf’s ongoing exhibition, Waste Archives as Landscape
The Baobab Tree at CSMVS. Pics Courtesy/CSMVS
Ever pause by a tree to wonder how it came to be there? Sananda Mukhopadhyaya often does. On Saturday, the theatremaker and art-educator will walk through the verdant Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) lawns as she introduces participants to the stories of some of its natural residents.
“My walk, Mumbai Overstory, introduces people to common trees in the city, because we do not often think of Mumbai as a particularly green city,” she says. The session will begin at the avenue between the museum and the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), and circumnavigate the museum, before entering within.
The walk stops by a Cannonball Tree
The session is also tied to artist Navjot Altaf’s ongoing exhibition, Waste Archives as Landscape, at the Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation (JNAF). In her curatorial note, gallerist Puja Vaish states, “The exhibition turns the museum into a space to consider transnational hierarchies embedded in the ceaseless circulation of objects, materials, people, plants and debris.”
Sananda Mukhopadhyaya. Pic Courtesy/Sarmaya Arts Foundation
To that end, it fits in with Mukhopadhyaya’s walk that will touch upon the memories of colonisation and urbanization that shaped the ecology of the city. “We are all coexisting as citizens of this island, and hustling for the same things,” she says.
(From left) Karvy, Strobilanthes Callosa; Waste Archives as Landscape, 2025. Pic Courtesy/artist; Volte Gallery, Navjot Altaf: Waste Archives as Landscape, installation view, 2026. Pic Courtesy/JNAF and A Banyan Tree growing along the avenue. Pic Courtesy/Shruti Mehta
On April 11; 9 am to 11 am
At CSMVS Museum, Kala Ghoda, Fort.
Log on to @jnafmumbai (to register)
Entry Rs 1000
The og Greens of the city
Old native
A popular stop is the Peepal tree within the museum precinct. “a common, but distinct presence in Mumbai,” Mukhopadhyaya notes.
Avian sounds
Palash with its distinct orange flowers
Keep your ear out for avian life found around the museum owing to abundance of fruitarian and shade trees. “The first thing you notice is that the soundscape changes with bird sounds. I have often spotted a family of Grey Hornbills in the Rain Trees,” she recalls.
Leaves of fire
One of the theatre maker’s favourite stops is the Palash Tree or as it is known ‘Flame of the Forest’, with its vivid orange leaves.
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