Marathahalli slum board — A Bengaluru neighbourhood where women create life depicting street art

These arts depict stories of women as mothers and the role they play in the city through their work and livelihood. (Photo credit: Sujata Khanna)

Alli Serona is a collective of civil society organisations, artists and think tanks that represent informal workers in Bengaluru. The words Alli Serona loosely translates into let’s meet there.

Starting in September 2022, Aravani Art Project and Srishti conducted four-month long community workshops for women and children living in Marathahalli slum board quarters. These workshops culminated into a placemaking activity.

Placemaking is a participatory approach that inspires people to collectively engage, re-imagine and co-create public space in the heart of any community.

Women working as laborers, coolies in construction sites, housekeepers and street vendor’s co-created street art depicting their stories as women, mothers and the role they play in the city through their work and livelihood.

Women working as laborers, coolies in construction sites, housekeepers and street vendor’s co-created this street art. (Photo credit: Sujata Khanna)

Speaking about the initiative, Tanisha Arora, creative lead, Alli Serona, said, “The vision of Alli Serona is to help the voices of those under presented, unheard of at the centre of decision-making as the city transitions to a low carbon economy. The purpose of the street art activity was to bring people together as a community, especially informal workers.”

She further added, “Workers in Marathahalli had never convened before. This is an effort to bring a community together. The art was an output but the activity was designed to bring women from informal jobs together.”

Founder of Aravani Art Project, Poornima Sukumar said, “For four months, we talked to the women to understand them better. It was the first time that these women were coming out during their work time to create art; nobody felt discriminated against, they enjoyed and found it memorable. We wanted to remind them to take time for themselves, to mobilise and share their stories through art in public places.”

The Alli Serona effort encouraged women to convene, share stories, talk about their identity, occupation and relation with the city. The workshops started off with rangoli competitions, embroidery, block printing, and kowdhi making (a traditional art of quilting in North Karnataka).

Alli Serona comes under Purpose Foundation’s Bengaluru moving campaign rooted in the idea that city-wide narratives are strengthened by active dialogue and engagement by communities at the hyper local level.

The activities started taking place in August 2022. In its pilot phase, three unique activities in collaboration with seven partners were conducted. These activities include street art, collection of demands for decision makers to be featured in upcoming documentary about Bengaluru buses and digital storytelling and video-making training.

Other partners of Alli Serona include Falana Films, Slum Jagathu, Video Volunteers, Urban Works Institute and The Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA).

The collective aims to conduct more such activities in different areas of the city such as Yelahanka, Mahadevpura, K.R.Puram, Neelasandra, Adugodi, Koramangala, C V Raman Nagar, Cottonpete, Nayandahalli, Jayanagar, J P Nagar and Yeshwanthpur.

(Written by Shyma Rauf)