For those think the Commonwealth Games have been all about the art of swindling, here's some news. An art project is aiming to create a memory of the Games and Delhi, in the tradition of "memory making" through photographs, postcards and souvenirs. The Delhi Commons project includes a series of mail/ public art projects including a mobile photo studio, a Delhi souvenir project and a postcard series. As creative practitioners, the artists hope to add to the discourse on mega events such as the Commonwealth Games 2010 and its relationship to the host city, by producing artwork that outlasts this event and travels to others cities and contexts. But Delhi Commons is not an awareness campaign. "Newspapers, websites, TV channels are doing that job adequately. Delhi Commons is a project about memory. How do mega events get remembered? What gets narrated and who narrates? What do we remember about the Asian Games? Most people I talked to said 'Colour TV and Appu'," says Iram Ghufran, the initiator of the project.
Delhi Commons is located in the city of Delhi and on the world wide web. The initiative began in August 2010. "We started the postcard series in the first week of September. So far we have had 45 postcards from 22 people. We have mailed postcards to individuals, writers, artists, intellectuals, art organisations across the world. We have a limited budget and resources and we have to make the best of the situation," says Iram, a filmmaker, photographer, and artist based in the Media Lab at Sarai- CSDS, Delhi. "In the last few years the city has witnessed massive structural transformation, demolition of neighbourhoods, re-development of the Yamuna river floodplain, increased migration, violation of labour laws, unprecedented corruption, scandal, and mismanagement. Perhaps we can say that Delhi is a little exhausted. The 2010 Games are the most expensive CWG ever," says Iram. This is where the artists come in. "Delhi Commons is looking to produce/ host artwork that critically respond to this situation." And, of course, anyone can join in. "Take photos, surf the internet, work with found images and words, work with crayons and paint, cut, copy, paste, remix."
Artwork: Ranjini ChatterjeeIram outlines the objectives of the project:
- To create a context for collaborative image gathering, storytelling, and creative expression.
- To bring together a diverse range of practitioners — graphic artists, photographers, painters, urban researchers into dialogue with each other
- To use artistic expression to comment on the complex narrative of the South Asian city which aspires to be ‘modern’.
- To produce artwork that outlasts the Games, and travels to other cities, and contexts carrying with it some stories, images, and expressions on the Commonwealth Games of 2010
- To produce an ‘image commons’ where photographs, postcards and other print/ digital forms are shared and circulated.
There are a number of postcards available on the site. And as Iram promises, "The badges/ buttons will soon be available soon. If we had more funds we would have flooded the city with postcards and souvenirs — unfortunately that's not the case. So we're keeping them with shops who have been kind enough to keep our stuff." The postcards are available at Sarai Cafe, CSDS; People Tree, Connaught Place; and Yodakin, Hauz Khas Village.
Delhi Commons has a Facebook group, which had 460 members at the last count. Not too many, but as Iram says the numbers are important and yet they are not. "I believe that people should do things which motivate and excite them, and its great if other people can share that excitement. The icing on the cake is that when people can collaboratively produce ideas/ thoughts/ knowledge/ affects and put them out in the public domain," she says. "We hope to have an exhibition in January next year and three artists mentioned on the website (Amitabh Kumar, Bhagwati Prasad and Goutam Ghosh) are making work for the exhibition. They're also working on postcards and other design aspects of the project," says Iram.
