Khoj, a Delhi-based multi-disciplinary cultural NGO, is celebrating its 10 years in Khirkee Extension, and doing it in style. No, there is no fancy cocktail opening here; it’s the residents of Khirkee who will get a chance to double up as artists, musicians, actors and cooks in the three-day festival titled Khoj Dus Tak that will kickstart on November 23. With as many as 21 projects and six events created as a collaborative effort between Khirkee residents and over 25 artists, the event will also witness the launch of the newly furbished Khoj building.
Says Pooja Sood, Director, Khoj: “Khoj engagement with Khirkee in the last decade – the location, its (often changing) inhabitants and its surrounding areas – have given various artists the opportunity to facilitate creative workshops, events, research projects and other participatory activities with different sections of the community. Such community programmes have always been led by the Khirkee extension community to produce collective visions and ideas about creative and urban development. It is to celebrate this continuous process of community engagement that we have organised Khoj Dus Tak.”
The exhibition will be displayed in the newly renovated building and will present a history of Khirkee, with old maps and audio narratives from older generations currently residing in Khirkee. It will also revisit some of Khoj’s old and new community projects. For instance, Window into Khirkee, will conjure a history of Khirkee through old maps, audio recordings of conversations with one of the oldest residents of Khirkee, who is fondly called Masterji. Posters and three-dimensional models from architect and urban planner Sudeshna Chatterjee’s project of May 2011 titled Play @ Khirkee will also be part of the exhibition. The project explored the landscapes of play in Khirkee and its surrounding areas. Taking a socio-spatial perspective and using ethnographic field work, the project explored how play is perceived by the community, how spaces for play are conceived and how children play in urban spaces.
Apart from the above exhibition, the festival will also witness some unique new projects. A Photo Studio will be created in one of the rooms at the newly renovated Khoj for three-days and the residents of Khirkee will be invited to get their photographs taken at minimum price so that they can create memories that mark their lives. Khirkee will also change its façade with the Shop Makeovers project where eight artists – Upasana Mehdiratta, Gaurvi Sharma, Vinima Gulati, Ram Bali Chauhan, Tulsi Ram, Amitabh Kumar, Sanjib Roy – will work in collaboration with five shopkeepers to exchange ideas and develop a collective method of art-making.
Then there is Khirkee Raag, where Tarik, a band based in Delhi and Shillong, collaborates with three musicians from Khirkee to create an original song about Khirkee, Khirkee Se which brings together three sound projects that will be played in public spaces like barber shops and tea stalls, Khirkee ka Khana and recipe books project, on each day of the festival, where Khoj will invite five women of Khirkee to cook special food items of their own creation.
Apart from this, there will be a nukkad natak, mural-making, football matches, hip-hop dance offs, a music concert, kavi sammelan and mushaira, Khirkee walks and lots more.
Didn’t we say it was a festival with a difference!
For a detailed schedule of the festival, visit www.khojworkshop.org
Poonam Goel is a freelance journalist and has covered the arts for over 15 years. She contributes on visual arts for various newspapers, magazines and online media. More about her on Story Wallahs. Write to her @ poonamgoel2410@gmail.com