Climate change is not just about rising oceanic temperatures and melting icebergs. “It is a lot more complex than that,” says Chennai-based artist and cultural producer Krishnapriya CP. She talks about a certain “precarity” that exists in the lives of the most affected: people in rural India. “And yet, they find ways to survive,” she says. Krishnapriya has curated the exhibition Bhin Bhini: Changing Climate, Uncertain Livelihoods, with selected works from People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), a ‘living journal’ and archive of stories on the everyday lives of people from rural India.
There will be large-format photos, reading material, and videos on display as part of the exhibition, that Krishnapriya says will focus on not just the larger issue of climate change, but the resilience vulnerable people display in its face. “This will be a very visual exhibition,” says Krishnapriya, “PARI has been telling extensive stories on climate change through text, audio and the visual format; but our narrative will use large scale prints from the archive.”
There will also be videos and handmade photo books on display. She has also collaborated with Marudham Farm School, an alternative school in Tiruvannamalai and Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (FICA), a Delhi-based non-profit for the two-month long event.
