| It is both a proud and humbling moment when one sees ones’ own hard work and effort materialize and being appreciated. The 36 groups who
presented their final products as part of the Youth Fellowship Project (YFP) too felt the same. The excitement on June 20, the Graduation day for the Youth Fellows,
was palpable. Adding to the zeal was the fact that for the first time since the inception of YFP, PUKAR’s Founding Trustee, Prof. Arjun Appadurai was in town to meet the
enthusiastic groups. |
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Prof Arjun Appadurai
takes time to interact with the youth
fellows and learn about their projects.
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| After a year of meetings, attending workshops, deadlines, arguments, agreements, stay-overs, analysis, creative and critical thinking, June 20 was
the day for Youth Fellows of 2008-09 to tell the world what they had learnt during the process.
The research projects were divided into seven themes – Gender, Education,
Livelihood, Law & Governance, Environment, Culture and Health. Replete with hand painted charts, cutouts and miniatures, each stall bore testimony to the work done by each
research group.
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| In the Graduation ceremony, Youth Fellows representing the seven themes spoke of the enrichment brought to their lives by the research process.
Prof. Appadurai emphasized the importance of a ground level
research studies in relation to the larger scheme of development
emphasizing the need for fresh, innovative ideas as pathways towards
creating a more equal society. |
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| Youth Fellowship graduates share their experience as researchers. |
| Chief Guest Mr. Ratnakar Gaikwad in his
speech focused on the value system one can adopt in life such as
equality, attitude, honesty and selfless service. |
| The celebration was attended by Pushpa Bhave, the Youth Fellowship Advisor & Mr. F. J. Gandavia, the Secretary and Chief Accountant of Sir Ratan Tata
Trust among other guests.
(Right) Chief Guest Ratnakar Gaikwad
and SRTT representative F J Gandavia present certificates to the graduating youth fellows. |
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PUKAR Annual Lecture
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SOAK |
| The SOAK exhibition, mounted at NGMA, Mumbai, took a unique look at Mumbai as an estuary, dismantling the classical representation
and perception of the sea as the enemy, divorced from and external to Mumbai’s terrain. Curated by Anuradha Mathur and Dilip Da Cunha, this brilliantly unique installation
presented a paradigm shift through detailed section drawings, photo works and models. Complementing PUKAR’s theme of urban water concerns, SOAK, through its round table
discussion with academics from various fields, urban planners, architects, artists and practitioners, offered new options, attitudes, designs and perspectives on how we
approach monsoon, floods and water in Mumbai.
(Top) Designers Anuradha Mathur and Dilip Da Cunha walk attendees through their SOAK exhibition at NGMA. (Below) Experts from various fields engage in an
animated round table discussion on Mumbai’s equation with its waters. |
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| PUKAR-SOAK Annual Lecture with Prof Arjun Appadurai
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| The PUKAR Annual Lecture on June 27 this year was held in conjunction with the ongoing SOAK exhibition at Mumbai’s NGMA auditorium.
Designers-Curators Anuradha Mathur and Dilip Da Cunha made a comprehensive presentation to a packed audience, detailing unprecedented design ideas and approaches that
take us beyond the conventional delineating of land and sea. Prof Arjun Appadurai, founder of PUKAR, in turn, raised the need for applying lessons from the exchange, from
"the seeing, talking, thinking" to our material realities and to inspire action. |
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| Prof Arjun Appadurai, Anuradha Mathur & Dilip Da Cunha exchange views on Mumbai’s Monsoon landscape & the lives around it. |
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| PUKAR Annual Lecture – State of Water in Mumbai
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| Held on the June 28 at the NGMA auditorium, this symposium was a timely examination of issues
surrounding access, distribution and use of water resources in urban areas. Keeping the PUKAR tradition of bringing national and
international scholars and practitioners for the benefit of the citizens of Mumbai, there was a panel of scholars from Delhi,
Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai who brought to light and discussed the discriminatory water distribution system and the failures of governance in the four metros. |
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| Scholars present their papers discussing water issues at the symposium. |
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This discussion was complemented with documentary films made by PUKAR youth fellows that revealed the informal ways in which
those at the bottom of the water hierarchy negotiate manufactured scarcity and its impact on their lives.
Both sessions led to animated discussions. |
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| PUKAR Annual Lecture
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| Urban Visions
Between July 9 – 17 2009 The city of Florence, Italy, will host the Beyond Media 2009 Visions 9th International Festival for Architecture and Media
in the Stazione Leopolda. The festival includes the Urban Visions Exhibition. PUKAR is proud to announce that it has been invited to exhibit
work from the Mythologies of Mumbai project and the Urban Typhoon, Koliwada workshop.
The work that will be exhibited at Urban Visions uses the efforts of communities and residents to reflect on, describe and fantasize about
different neighbourhoods in Mumbai. The images to be seen have been created in collaboration with residents, researchers (often from the
neighbourhoods being studied) and professionals such as film-makers, architects and artists. The neighbourhoods of Girangaon and Dharavi will
be primarily showcased. |
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| PUKAR Youth Fellowship Exhibition and Graduation Event |
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1 May 2009 - JANE JACOBS WALK - GIRANGAON STREET WALK 5 PM from Bharatmata Theatre, Parel, Mumbai
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Girangaon Festival
PUKAR hosted the “ Giragaon Festival” in Nare Park Maidan, Girangaon, on November 1-2, 2008.
The idea of mounting the Girangaon Festival was born out of a deep seated passion and desire to preserve the rich heritage of Girangaon for posterity. In its
hay days when all the mills were churning out beautiful textiles in the heart of the city, the mill workers of Girangoan contributed to the economic and cultural
prosperity of the city and country alike. Their life style inspired and nurtured many creative instincts in Girangaon, fostering its rich cultural ethos. Mill workers’
entertainment included public festival like the Ganesh-Utsav, Dahi Handi, Jakadi, which became very popular across the state and are famous even today! The mill workers
also staged brilliant theater and sustained folk arts like Lawani, Tamasha, Bhajan, Namman, and Shahiri Powadas. It also produced singers, writers, poets, and actors who
spread the stories of Girangaon through their creative ventures. Today, with the onslaught of Globalization much has changed and most of these rich heritages are
disappearing. This festival was an attempt to present these various art forms, by the local artists, to the younger generation and to preserve it by archiving and
documenting it for posterity. |
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Click here to view a PHOTO ESSAY of the festival and the performances portraying the various art forms.
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Click here to view
some of the NEWSPAPER ARTICLES on the
festival.
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PUKAR EZINE
A quarterly overview of PUKAR discussions and workshops.
The PUKAR Ezine is an online newsletter published and circulated every
quarterly via emails. It is a medium for us to connect to people
regarding events, news, updates and announcements about PUKAR.
To view past editions of the Ezine click on the links below: |
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January-March 2008 |
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October-December 2007 |
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Special Issue |
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July-September 2007
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To subscribe for the Ezine please contact us or email us. |
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PAST EVENTS |
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2008 |
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2007 |
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2006 |
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2005 |
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2004 |
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