PLAY is a textile work that shows children playing on a street in the neighbourhood of Chitpur, with the beautiful, crumbling architecture of the old Jorabagan police station in the background. The Banyan tree’s roots have grown over and through the building, and a majestic Mango tree in the foreground dapples the building on a sunny day. It is a mundane, everyday moment yet it is surreally beautiful. Most of the younger inhabitants of this neighbourhood are not aware of the rich history this beautiful building has. For them, this densely forested ruin is not noteworthy – it just exists in the background as they go about their days. Children, especially innocent of this building’s significance, play naturally in and around it.

A city is also a shared space and lends itself naturally to engagement and collaboration with others. In that sense, walking in the city allows me to operate in several capacities at once – as flaneur, photographer, artist, witness, and even collaborator.