A NOTE FROM THE CURATORS
When we started work on the Museum of Memories, we had several conversations about our interpretations of “heritage” and how it informs our gender identities. As individuals in the 18-25 age group, understanding what forms our personal and collective identities has taken on importance - especially in the midst of a global pandemic when it became crucial for us to look back and find grounding in our roots, which might remain unchanged. Still, we found that we could not look to the past for stability, because despite being on the other side of this project, the blanks in our histories continue to be filled every day.
We as curators recognised that although there might be similar threads in our explorations beyond the masc-dominant, patriarchal narratives that the historical canon has followed, there was no one experience (or twelve experiences) that could speak for the collective. So we set out primarily to seek perspectives, of minoritised genders and sexual identities. This project is not a history lesson on heritage, but a repository of stories that look forwards and backwards at once, trying to place themselves in larger narratives to make sense of themselves. Can the same lens of a modern-day angry feminist be applied to her grandmother’s experience of an early marriage? Can the rigid gender norms of religion and religious spaces be chipped away at to pave way for more inclusive systems? And how does one gather the courage to bring up mental health in a project about a past that completely ignored its existence - until now.
You are invited to take time to engage with each contribution. To contemplate the stories and memory carried within ourselves; all the intergenerational forces, the nostalgia, and the tangible and intangible oddities that have been passed down over time. And maybe to open doors and dialogues to a deeper understanding of the things that form our worldviews, and our ideas of “self”.
C O N T R I B U T O R S
CHARVI VENKAT
THE CURIOUS CURIO
GARGI UPADHYAY
MY ANXIETY HAS
ITS ANCESTORS
BIDISHA MAHAPATRA
IN THE LIFETIME OF A HIBISCUS
NEER SIHAG
A GENDER INVESTMENT
APURVA KORDE
BLUE AND GREY
ADITYA VIKRAM
A QUEER INHERITANCE:
BORROWED & STOLEN
DHRUVI MODI
TO INSANITY
SURABHI
FRAGMENTS OF MEMORIES
MAITREYEE MHATRE
THE EARTH AND
HER DAUGHTERS
GEETHIKA NAIR
THE GRANDMOTHER THEORY
JOSE
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S
COMMUNION
LAKSHMI RAMESH
AMMA, AND
MY TAMURA
C U R A T O R S
Aakriti Chandervanshi, 25
Most of Aakriti’s days are spent in travelling places and documenting spaces, exploring the themes of physical and emotional connection embedded in the landscapes of South Asia. As an architect and visual artist, the roots of her practice emerge from the keen interest in the historicities of the built environment and relevant debates around the discourse on their conservation. Aakriti hopes to bring conversations around mental wellness and queer rights forward, through Museum of Memories. She is devoted to her work and pets, perhaps not as equally as she would like.
Charulatha Dasappa, 25
Charulatha’s explorations are (currently) a way for her to navigate questions of temporality, survival, and finding hope. Primarily an editor, she also writes and immerses herself in art and its call.
For her, the Museum of Memories has been a wonderful place to engage with the ideas of tactile memory and memory carried within the bodies of women and other gender minorities, which she is particularly interested in.
Mallika Dabke, 24
Mallika’s day job is in media, but she thrives on her multiple side hustles that are usually writing or curatorial projects. In her work she’s always looking for the very specific intersection of art, culture, food, feminism, environment, politics and all things queer. For some time now she’s been interested in the themes of nostalgia, identity, home and belonging which are so crucial to Museum of Memories.
