At National Gallery of Modern Art in Bengaluru, ‘Mapping Namma Uru’ interactive art performance evokes nostalgia

The bioscope, a device popular in the late 1800s, is a box containing a manually rotated roll of film negative that allows viewers looking in to see specific images. The images in this bioscope were related to the past of the city, such as black-and-white images of major streets, or famous entrepreneurs such as ‘Coffee Pudi’ Sakamma.

Shah said, “Carrying the bioscope and the images of history… is like baggage, but good baggage. Whenever we start missing some people, some space, we go down memory lane.”

Following a poetry performance beginning with the phrase “Elli Enke Bengaluru (Where is My Bengaluru)”, the interactive segment began with Shah handing out snacks made of cooked beans, recalling one of the origin tales of the city, along with freshly made coffee, also another city staple. Visitors were encouraged to also use the coffee to symbolically leave marks on postcards.

Shah said, “I had previously done one performance at Wheeler’s Road, interacting with the vendors there who were the audience, specific to the history of that area… I am an outsider. But how I enter and experience the city and experience the walks, the food, the basic way of connecting with people – I wanted to create the same experience for my audience.”