Till recently Aditi Veena, a 27-year-old independent musician and architect, was busking—employing public spaces like streets and gardens to perform music—across three countries. Her preoccupation with public spaces and the role of an artist in a city, however, dates back to when she was studying architecture at the School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi. “When I was in college, my thesis was about performing in public spaces. In fact, I was designing spaces for public performing arts,” says Veena.

After graduating in 2014, she went to Sri Lanka to work with architect Amila de Mel. A singer, she also performed at various places in the country. During one such performance in Galle earlier this year, Veena met Lakshya Dhungana, a Canadian documentary film-maker of Nepalese origin whose work focuses on issues related to women’s rights.

“Lakshya wanted to make a film on catcalling,” says Veena. The two decided to travel across India, Sri Lanka and Nepal to document how people would respond to a woman musician taking to the streets and singing. While Veena sang, Dhungana documented people’s reactions on film. This marked the beginning of their unique collaborative project, which sought to address the issues of access, the rarity of street performances in cities, and people’s engagement with their own neighbourhoods.

With a guitar, a portable amplifier, a mic and a projector in tow, Veena and Dhungana wandered in the evenings through the lanes and by-lanes of Weligama, Delhi, Sonauli, Pokhara and Lumbini, with the intention of performing for anyone who was willing to lend them an ear. As they performed, they posted videos and photos on Instagram and Tumblr with the hashtag #StreetsForUs. Veena would pitch herself at a spot, croon and strum her guitar, while Dhungana projected the beautiful visuals of Sri Lanka she had shot on to a screen.

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Like #StreetsForUs, other campaigns too have fought for women’s access to public spaces. In New Delhi, the “Pinjra Tod” movement led by Delhi University students demands freedom from hostel curfews and other practices that curb the mobility of students, especially women students. In Bengaluru, Jasmeen Patheja established Blank Noise 13 years ago. It recently launched the #WalkAlone campaign to encourage women to head out in public by themselves. Women from across the subcontinent have been posting photographs on social media, challenging the socially enforced dependency on men.

Across the border in Pakistan, Sadia Khatri founded “Girls At Dhabas” in 2015—it began as a series of Instagram posts by Khatri exploring the street corners, dhabas and parks of Karachi, alone and with friends. This snowballed into a larger movement when women from countries like Bangladesh and India began uploading photographs of their activities in traditionally “male-dominated” spaces, like sitting at dhabas and drinking tea.