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The Dharavi Biennale is a two-year process leading to an exhibition in 2015. It blends art and science to share information on urban health and to showcase the contribution of the people of Dharavi to Mumbai's economic and cultural life. The project has been organized by SNEHA (Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action), an NGO working to improve the health of women and children in Mumbai's informal settlements. With four themes - art, health, recycling and vitality - the Biennale invites Dharavi residents to meet, educate themselves on urban health, learn new skills, and produce locally resonant artworks that are authentic, honest and relevant.
The Biennale is structured around workshops that bring Dharavi artists together with mentor artists and health scientists to develop artworks that raise questions about urban health. Each of these workshops is called an Artbox and happens at the Dharavi workspace and gallery, the Colour Box. All the Artboxes will come together in February 2015 at an exhibition and series of events called the Alley Galli Biennale, a lighthearted name for a bighearted show involving a mixture of languages, media, places and subjects. This panel discussion is a preview to the Biennale.
Panelists: David Osrin, Nayreen Daruwalla, Chaitanya Modak
Discussant: Prajna Desai
David Osrin is a paediatrician and public health researcher, Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow and Professor of Global Health at University College London. He is co-director of the Dharavi Biennale.
Nayreen Daruwalla is a psychologist and activist who heads the program on prevention of violence against women and children at SNEHA (Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action). She is co-director of the Dharavi Biennale.
An illustrator, graphic designer and filmmaker, Chaitanya Modak is a mentor artist for one of the Art Boxes at the Dharavi Biennale. He facilitates the Comic Epidemic, a series of workshops on graphic novel making created by the young and old residents of Dharavi.
Prajna Desai is an art historian and has curated The Food Project for the Dharavi Biennale. This examined the practice of household cooking through art historical questions regarding the economy of labour, the value of work, and the intent to aesthetics. Admission free and open to all.