Over the last three years since the pandemic, we have been able to work with almost 50 different personal and/or community archiving projects through our homegrown initiative, Constructing Personal Archives, and its different outcomes. In 2022, we continued similar efforts to enable participants from across borders to come together to participate in different workshops, co-create archiving projects, and engage in related conversations. 

Our collective interest is to subvert the purpose of archival histories and dialogues around the creative interpretation of cultural narratives has constantly pushed us to think more critically about the relevance of personal archiving projects to different audiences across Indian and South Asian society. We have thus been exploring spaces for curatorial engagements, from a cubist art gallery in New Delhi to a metro station in Bangalore; from online incubation programs to onsite research and capacity building; or continuously exploring various forms of language and communication strategies to reach the masses. 

In the public showcase of CPA 2022, “Namma Harate Jagalige Banni” we are keen on discussing the possible relationships between the different kinds of personal archiving projects with the wide range of public whom we may meet on the streets. The presenters and audiences are encouraged to bring their interpretation of the “streets” to the showcase; whether it is the sonic experience of Bangali heard in Kolkata homes versus the regional centers of Dhaka; the experiences of celebrating a festival between Baroda to Bangalore; the ways in which one searches for lost legacy in family archives or community histories; or from shopping for literature in the markets of Ulhasnagar to reviving the forgotten atrocities of the conservancy lanes, and more. Also, bring along your friends from the neighborhood. 

The continuing participants of the second edition of Constructing Personal Archives 2022 (CPA 2022), spanning from Sep 2022 to Feb 2023, bring to us a slice of this spectrum of approaches. 

Join us on 6th and 7th May 2023, from 12pm to 8pm.

Venue: Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore