Mumbai Sheher Sabka
An artistic collaboration works to raise awareness about the complexity of living in Mumbai
Mumbai/IBNS: City-based Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA), a non-profit development organisation working to enable vulnerable groups to access their rights, has been holding a series of programmes to raise awareness about the complexities of urban living.
One of their key programmes is an annual festival called ComplexCity, where they try to bring together diverse voices from Mumbai to collectively unravel the complex realities surrounding the city, where participants across urban spaces share their own experiences with one another.
The creative collaborations, mostly consisting of conversations and reflections, travelled across the city, from settlements to college campuses, from parks to theatres, and more.
According to Roshni Nuggehalli, Executive Director, YUVA, “A series of curated platforms are facilitated via ComplexCity to help bring the city together, to create a more inclusive future together.”
Over the past few months, as part of ComplexCity, city walks were held in the informal settlement (basti) of Ambujwadi (Malad, Mumbai) and in the rehabilitation and resettlement colony of Lallubhai Compound (Mankhurd, Mumbai).
The walks were led by members youth groups from the communities themselves, who showcased housing and identity narratives in the city, through their own stories.
The organisation also initiated a project titled ‘Mumbai Migration; on Instagram, a forum where people may narrate their migration journeys to Mumbai.
ComplexCity’s youth convention, ‘Making Mumbai’ presented diverse perspectives through panel discussions on the discrimination and violence faced in the city, and what participants can do individually and collectively to make the city inclusive for all.
The convention also included workshops and creative sessions, once-act plays (devised by ComplexCity’s artistic consultant Divya Bhatia and supported by The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama - and StageLeft - India).
According to Bhatia, “Street plays move people and allow for immense creativity in expression. They showcase the agency of youth and empower them for change initiatives.”
The festival will conclude on June 11, 2022, with a youth cultural showcase, a photography exhibition and ‘Baaton Mein’ theatre performances at YUVA Centre, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai.
Two competitions, on street plays and photography, are also part of the ComplexCity 2022 lineup.
Focused on the theme 'Mumbai: Sheher Sabka' (Mumbai: The City For All'), they allow youth across Mumbai to critically engage with one another in a competitive spirit, and learn more about the city and its people through their own interactions.
Judging the competitions will be Bhatia and Joy Fernandes (for street plays), and urban photographer Gopal MS (for photography).
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