An exhibition on the theme ‘Smarter Digital Realities: Tech and the City’ is being held by the Sandbox Collective in association with the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan over the weekend in Bengaluru. This exhibition was curated by Padmini Ray Murray, founder of Design Beku, a collective that explores how technology and design can be decolonial, local, and ethical.
Padmini, speaking on the phone from Bengaluru, says, “Artists have examined the relationship between technology and the city, and how the former has transformed the latter.”
She continues, “This project was conceived before the pandemic. However, the lockdown forced artists and creative practitioners to find novelty and inspiration in everyday monotony. Technology played a huge role in the experience of the pandemic, especially in the metropolitan cities.”
This residency was initially conducted online, with artists in Bombay, Bangalore, Pune and Dhaka, contributing works that emerged from a few weeks of workshops. The final works were showcased in an online environment and a series of online events marked the launch of the exhibition space.
A dance performance that addresses our known and imagined understanding of the city by Talin Subbaraya | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
As pandemic restrictions have eased, it was decided to bring these artworks to a larger audience, in a more traditional exhibition format. The works include an evocative, interactive narrative on belonging in the city, a glitchy immersive sonic commentary on Bengaluru nightlife, a visual meditation on the role balconies played during our enforced months indoors and a collaborative project with waste-pickers and manual scavengers depicting the oppression of non-dominant castes in the city, among others.
The exhibition is held at the Bangalore International Centre on March 19, 20, between 11 am and 7 pm. Entry is free for all.
