Malleshwaram Calling

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DATE: Dec 2012

PARTNERS:  India Foundation for the Arts, Bruthan Bengaluru Mahinagarike Palike & Jaaga.

COMMUNITY: Public, Artists, Virtual Communities.

An interactive installation in Bangalore resurrects a neighborhood's past through oral histories shared by octogenarians. A vintage phone booth, reminiscent of the 1950s, serves as a portal for audiences. Utilizing VoIP technology & extensive mapping, amidst the chaos of Yeshwanthpur flyover, this project place-makes from forgotten and derelict urban space.

Oral histories of a neighborhood, presented in interactive installations, project Malleshwaram Calling brought meaning to anonymous, nowhere urban space. The Artistic Director for this project, our Founder – Archana Prasad created this work as part of a grant by the India Foundation for the Arts under their Project 560 initiative, partnered by Citibank India. Jaaga DNA supported this project by facilitating the installation Under the Flyover (UFO) at Yashwanthpuram Circle. In addition, we facilitated base user research and provided expert insights along the process of the project.

Busy passers-by rushing through an unwieldy junction below the Yeshwanthpur flyover were presented with a moment’s respite from the noise and chaos of the outside world. As they entered a bright red phone booth from yesteryears, nestled in its golden yellow interiors, a black rotary dial phone rang. Upon picking it up, they were invited to listen to stories taking them back to Malleshwaram in the 1950s. Some of them dialed ‘0’ to leave their own stories. 350-400 people were interviewed from the neighborhoods of Malleswaram and Yeshwantpuram. A group of 10 students were deployed to conduct the surveys under expert guidance. At the circle, close to 1000 people engaged with the installation over 3 days. Local community links were established. More than 20 elderly residents were interviewed to gather stories from Malleshwaram of the late 1940s and early 50s. An exhibition of the process of executing this project was held at Jaaga DNA’s Studio as part of its inaugural event.

More about the project at its website – www.malleshwaram.in