Curation Name: Ruptured Doorways of the Past
Completion Year: 2022
Location: Hyderabad, India
Lead Curators: Rahul Palagani & Sasank IVS
Photo Credits: Rahul Palagani
Student Volunteers: Akshitha Pannala, Ambika Bagam, Deepaj Anumolu, Harsha Diddi, Kavya Kamireddy, Neha Nida, Prakhya Durvasula, Sai Sri Vindhya, Sanjana Cherukupalli, Saurav Ananth, Shaniya Irshad (and her parents) & Sriram
Others: Satya Narayana - who brought the sand here & Raju - who painted the walls white
The installation titled Ruptured Doorways of our Past comments upon the vulnerable state of our heritage affected by the impacts of the climate crisis and unsustainable human intervention.
ICOMOS had suggested the much-needed theme Heritage and Climate for World Heritage Day 2022 to enable inclusive dialogue and just climate action through safeguarding all types of heritage (both cultural and built). Adhering to the same theme, Parampara, the Aurora Heritage Club conducted a photography competition, thereby providing an opportunity to both celebrate and respond critically to climate injustice towards the protection of vulnerable, marginalized, and ruptured heritage structures and sites.
The brief for the installation was to exhibit selected photographs from the competition, highlighting the theme – Heritage and Climate. Thus, the installation Ruptured Doorways of Our Past was designed to invoke numerous questions through the strikingly juxtaposed elements while commenting upon the state of our heritage.
The sand was deliberately spread across the room to represent the unmitigated impacts of climate change. "Why the sand here seems so out of place", is the curious question it raises, which implies the state of the uncertain climatic patterns that are increasingly out of place.
The striking doorways, in an otherwise monochromatic backdrop are made of PVC pipes (intendedly plastic) painted in magenta. The doorways are covered with hanging white textiles representing our heritage that are vital historical repositories. The photographs of the heritage structures and sites are thus fixed to a pristine fabric, which is vulnerable to the seeping threats of the sand from below. Thereby, representing the rupture caused over our heritage (which is the pristine fabric) by the unmitigated impacts of climate change and ‘out of place’ human intervention (which is the sand).
The installation thus aims to bring the visitors’ attention to the much-needed just and immediate action towards protecting our cultural and built heritage, which are vital doorways of our past.
