Srishti Interim is a month-long annual event that brings international artists with strong pedagogic practices to lead practice-based inquiries with students at Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Bangalore, India. As one of 20 invited artists, I planned and delivered a course for third year undergraduate students, culminating in a public workshop at Yellulu Yelli festival and an exhibition and public discussion at the Festival of Ideas. Students used listening methodologies to explore social issues in the neighbourhood, and responded with detailed proposals for community art projects that initiate social dialogue.
What can you learn about Yelahanka through listening? This project borrows protocols for listening from sound art practice, for use as methodologies for socially-engaged arts. ‘Social listening’ is proposed as an essential starting point for work that seeks to initiate social dialogue. During this project, students listened together and separately, comparing experiences and examining their ‘listening positionalities’. Devising group agreements for collaborative working and ethical research practices, students considered how they might use artistic practice to connect to concerns in the neighbourhood. This process has resulted in three proposals for community-based projects.
