Samooha is an informal, interdisciplinary team of seven, including two community leaders from Sathenagar, four practicing architects and a cultural anthropologist specializing in urban studies. Drawing on ethnographic research on informal urban cultures, our project imagines the city itself as a studio – as an actor within the work of art and as an element that enables the work of art to emerge as such.
With artists from Sathenagar, Samooha have created ‘On Stage: Sathenagar Here’, a public space for a series of performances, visual and discursive events about the nature of life, work and culture in informal communities. We focus on the principles of self-reliance, self-expression and self-making as they find their way into new visions for transforming society. Within the spaces, you find a series of photographs, videos and soundscapes documenting life in Sathenagar, inviting you to reflect on what is made there. It serves as a framework for dialogue between the communities of Sathenagar, Kochi and those visiting the Biennale.
Moving beyond an emphasis on culture as an expression of self-identity and self-interest, On Stage highlights moments from forgotten histories and visions of an inclusionary society articulated by those most distant from the reins of social power. This broad sentiment is shared by all the protagonists and participants from Sathenagar, even as they are keenly aware of the injustices, inequities and systemic failures which motivate their participation in various forms of direct political action
Film Screening: the space is animated with video, photo and graphic content produced by artists from Sathenagar, in collaboration with Samooha.
Drawing on ethnographic research about informal urban cultures, the project imagines the city itself as a studio - as an actor within the work of art and as an element that enables the work of art to emerge as such. © MO-OF/Mobile Offices
Live Performance by artists From Sathenagar
[Resulting] after several conversations people from the neighbourhood, discussing interpretations of key terms, watching short films conceived and directed by Santosh, a resident of Sathenagar, listening to the philosophical and devotional songs performed by some of Sathenagar’s oldest residents, watching the young men and women of a local theatre troupe called Swapna Kala Manch, setting up interactions between a studio photographer from Sathenagar and a professional artist-photographer and being enchanted by the performances of young men and women devoting themselves to the popular dance form called lavani. © MO-OF/Mobile Offices
The 90-minute piece was a result of the workshop and served as an exploration and response to the landscape of urban India.
Dressed in a white cotton costume, bearing imprints of being rubbed vigorously in muddy water so that it tells of the prevailing monsoon season, Goa-based performance artist Nikhil Chopra slowly snaked his way out of Khoj Studios in Khirkee Extension and into the street. He quietly observed the audience, his curious eyes looking at those present, including noteworthy names from the art world, including Subodh Gupta, Vivan Sundaram and Bharti Kher.
Kochi Muziris Biennale – On Stage Sathenagar Here 2016 in collaboration with Samooha (Santosh Thorat, Jameela Begam, Vyjayanthi Rao, Manisha Agarwal, Aparajita Basu, Anand Patel, Shantanu Poredi)
Project Type: Exhibition Design
Location: Kochi, Kerala, India
Client: Kochi Muziris Biennale
Project Status: Exhibition from Dec 2016 – Mar 2017
Project Area: 5600 sqft
Design Team: Shantanu Poredi, Manisha Agarwal, Akshay Aditya, Kunal Mokasdar, Jahanavi Kakar, Chintan Gala
Bamboo Contractor: Thumb Impressions Collaborative
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Sathenagar. Samooha, 2016.
See also …
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KOODAARAM Kochi-Muziris Pavilion. Anagram Architects, 2018.