BENGALURU: In the darkness, one instinctively seeks the light, a beacon of hope that also guides us back home. Merging imagination, art, technology, and environmental consciousness, the multi-sensory exhibition Lost in BLR invites Bengaluru’s art enthusiasts on a magical journey through the vibrant streets and life of the city through the imaginative eyes of Sista, a nine-year-old time traveler.
Conceptualised in collaboration with Goa-based Sensistan foundation and Craft 360, the exhibition will be showcased at the Bangalore Creative Circus (BCC). Upon entering the exhibition, we are invited to embody the city through Sista’s eyes. “The fundamental concept is the interplay between physical and digital, where art meets technology. This has been extensively explored outside India, but in India, while we use technology for stage backdrops and events, it’s still limited and not very accessible to the public,” says Manisha Vinod, co-founder of the BCC.
The exhibition is the culmination of an eight-week residency programme under the Sensistan foundation. “New media art has become an ecosystem generating jobs worldwide. Recognising the opportunity and talent in India, we wanted to create a bridge through this programme to provide an immersive experience to the globe,” says Shammi Raj Balla, director of Sensistan foundation. He further emphasises the evolution of tech art and its potential as a future norm in entertainment. By focusing on the narrative enabled by technology rather than the technology itself, he says that Lost in BLR aims to make art more accessible and inclusive, breaking away from the elitism often associated with art galleries.
Talking about choosing a child as a protagonist, Balla says, “Tech is the medium, but at the end of it, we’re telling the story. We have created a persona, an imaginary character, Sista. It’s similar to Alice in Wonderland, but Indianised and customised to our needs in its essence.” Vinod further adds to the conceptualisation, saying, “Children’s imagination is unlimited, and they are not bound by rules. But on the other hand, they have a sense of right and wrong, and they only know black or white. It’s only as you become an adult that all these gray areas come in. Hence, the idea of looking through the eyes of this nine-year-old.”
Some highlights of the exhibition include a three-act new media art installation showcasing the life of the ancient Vrishabhavathi river, upon which Bengaluru was built and which now has been reduced to a sewage outlet. Using new media and technologies like a baroscope and virtual reality, the piece draws attention to the urgent need for environmental conservation. “This essentially talks about the Vrishabhavathi river, its past, present, and a hopeful future. The state of the river right now is extremely bad, with Google Maps labelling it a sewer. We hope to use new media and virtual reality to talk about it,” says one of the five artists, Malcolm Fernandes.
Other installations, like Flames to Beams, explore the history of Bengaluru as Asia’s first city with streetlights, using light as a metaphor for guidance and hope. Last Plant Alive presents a dystopian future where plant life is nearly extinct, inviting viewers to reflect on environmental issues.
(Lost in BLR will be showcased every weekend until April 7 at Bangalore Creative Circus, Yeshwantpur. Tickets priced at `399 are available on bookmyshow.com)