Geographies of Consumption: Bombay/Mumbai | Launch

Panelists: Shantanu Roy, Navjot Altaf, Rahul Srivastava and Matias Echanove
Discussant: Amrita Gupta Singh
In association with Ekonnect Knowledge Foundation and Institute of Urbanology, Mumbai

January 7, 2015 | 6.30 pm
Space 118, Wadibunder Road, Mumbai

Geographies of Consumption: Bombay/Mumbai, is a public art project conceived and curated by the Mohile Parikh Center. It critically investigates the impact of consumption on natural resources in the city, and on human bodies, our ecosystems and cultures. Interspersed in the project are study groups, screenings, public lectures, annual symposia, and publication.

It is a platform for diverse actors to discuss our ‘rights to the city’, igniting socially innovative ideas to enable a more farsighted approach to the environment in Bombay. Artists, geographers, urban researchers, architects, social scientists, environment management experts, students, and grass-root civil society organizations are encouraged to collaborate on creative projects for the city. Through the lens of urban consumption, fifteen public art projects will focus on the themes of Land, Water, and Food.

Production and consumption are deeply connected to processes of urbanization, their conditions and consequences. Across the 20th and 21st centuries, there has been a proliferation of urban areas across the globe. But has this urban turn, concentrated to cities, contributed to human well-being?  The panel discussion will explore these questions through an interdisciplinary format, as a launch to the project.

Shantanu Roy is Senior Vice President at the Environmental Management Centre LLP, Mumbai. His blend of experience with academic and research institutions, private sector and financing institutions, and governments has provided him with a synergistic approach to environmental management and sustainability. He is associated with the Ekonnect Knowledge Foundation, in its Green Purchasing Network India program.

Navjot Altaf is a senior artist whose oeuvre constitutes of multidisciplinary approaches to video, sculptures, installations, and site-specific works. She continues to collaborate with indigenous artists and community members in Bastar, Chattisgarh, since 1997. Her imagery is drawn from her theoretical and methodological innovation, and engaged readings of historical and contemporary art, film and cultural theory.

Rahul Srivastava and Matias Echanove are the co-directors of the Institute of Urbanology, based in Mumbai and Goa. The institute engages with debates on urban development by working with local community groups, creating new concepts, implementing projects and recommending strategies and policies.

Amrita Gupta Singh is an art historian, researcher, and writer involved in art education and cultural management. She is Program Director at Mohile Parikh Center, Mumbai.