Seoul International Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism
September 1, 2017
Participants: Sandeep Hota (Project Manager, Utsha), Sujit Mallick (Visual Artist), Lipika Singh Darai (Filmmaker), Suparna Surabhita Das (Urban planner, Bhubaneswar Development Authority)
What do Seoul (South Korea), Hamburg (Germany), and Bhubaneswar (India) have to say to each other about their respective urban challenges and transformations? What do they feel about the changes in the urban spaces and communities in their respective cities? Have these rapid changes deflated communities and is urban solidarity under siege? Are there lessons to be learnt from their individual stories? And what role does art have to play in answering these difficult questions in this age of rapid urbanisation? These and other questions of similar import were delved into by a team of artists and urban planners from Bhubaneswar who have participated in the prestigious Seoul International Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism (SIBAU) in Seoul from Sept 1-7, 2017.
This was a result of a long-term collaborative effort between Utsha Foundation For Contemporary Art and Ila Panda Centre for Arts (IPCA) along with the Seoul based foundation Space One. The effort was further supported by the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) in its quest to integrate art and culture more closely with the urban design of the city.
The team consisted of performance artist Sujit Mallick, National Award-winning director Lipika Singh Darai, BDA urban planner Suparna Surabhita Das and Utsha project manager Sandeep Hota. They participated in the aptly titled ‘Three Way Dialogue Event which included a performance by Sujit and the screening of Lipika’s film ‘ Kankee o Saapo (Dragonfly and Snake)’. The team members participated in a panel talk and roundtable discussion at the Goethe Institute along with the other 2 cities on the topic of ‘Communities and Solidarity in Flux’.
The project was put together as a result of a Utsha residency by Space One Director Inyoung Yeo in May 2017 that was generously supported by IPCA. Inyoung used several locations within Bhubaneswar for her installation-based interviews of communities.
