Of Immersion, Scattering, Shifting and Flowing
The Climate Change narrative has been consistently shaped by a techno-legal language, which finds its origins in modern colonial practices. In recent years, this narrative has been insidiously embedded in funding structures and spatial policies that are directed towards an impending cataclysmic future often ignoring more nuanced practices that have evolved over years. How can a close reading of spatial ecologies nuance the climate change narrative beyond broad-brush technocratic formulations? How can we learn from emergent knowledge structures that have been incrementally working out life forms through artistic practices that expand imaginations of life and living beyond colonial epistemologies?Visarjan is a powerful concept both in the western and eastern coast of India where Gods along with their majestic paraphernalia are immersed and let go. There are several practices of creation and destruction of care and sacrifice, and of building and dismantling in South Asia, that have historically and in contemporary times shaped human ecologies. Here totemic animal gods, mother goddesses, harvests toiled over and animals that are endearing to people are created, cared for and let go as a form of life. In this intense interaction with the environment the practice of life happens. Through a compilation of practices of immersion, scattering, shifting and flowing, this paper opens up multiple logics that have shaped the engagement with nature.
Author Profile: Rupali Gupte

Rupali Gupte is an architect, urbanist, and artist based in Mumbai. She is a Professor at the School of Environment and Architecture (SEA). Gupte’s interdisciplinary work spans various forms including writings, drawings, mixed-media works, teaching, conversations, walks, spatial interventions, and curation. She co-founded the urban research network, Collective Research Initiatives Trust (crit.org.in), and the School of Environment and Architecture (sea.edu.in) in 2013. Gupte’s recent works include architectural installations, art installations, curatorial initiatives, community projects, and spatial designs exhibited internationally.