Multimedia Installation Explores Home and Memory
Reminiscences of Home, a multimedia installation by Assamese indigenous artist Dhiraj Rabha, combines archival material, interviews, audio-video, and physical structures to give voice to the untold stories of people who lived in a Goalpara camp for former ULFA members.
Artist's Childhood Memories Shape the Installation
Dhiraj Rabha, the artist behind the installation, was born in Assam's Barali Gaon but moved to a residential camp in Goalpara for former ULFA members when he was just four years old. He grew up in this highly surveilled environment, thinking of it as normal. His childhood memories played a significant role in shaping the installation, which he created in 2024 at the camp.
According to a release issued by the India Foundation for the Arts (IFA), which implemented the project under its Arts Practice programme, the installation 'recreates the idea of 'home' for the community members through their memories and narratives', by combining archival material, interviews, audio-video, and physical structures to give 'voice to the untold stories, bridging the gap between the insiders and the outsiders.'
Artist's Journey and Inspiration
Dhiraj's own journey and inspiration for the installation began when he moved back home in 2021 during the COVID lockdown. He spent a lot of time with his family, listening to their stories of the past, and realized that many other people had had similar experiences. He wanted to revisit these stories and understand them from different perspectives.
He began interviewing people, 'not for a project or any artwork, but to know them better,' he says. As the stories piled up, coupled with data and documents, he began thinking of ways to archive them. 'I thought of making a book or documentary at first,' he says. Then, 'multiple disciplines came into my practice as well, so I allowed that.'
Project's Evolution and Exhibition
The project was first showcased at the camp itself, before travelling to the Serendipity Arts Festival (2023), Bengal Biennale (2024), and the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (2025), among others. In Bengaluru, it will be exhibited at Sabha BLR between August 27 and 29, with Dhiraj conducting walkthroughs of the installation multiple times each day.
'This project is a research project, but I didn't want it to consist of just documents. I wanted to make it surreal and poetic,' he says of the project, which he hopes could play a role in subverting dominant narratives. While his work does not defend or glorify ULFA, he feels it is important to understand other perspectives as well.
Many of these people have shared their story for the first time, and, for me, it is important to understand their story, too,' he says.
Artist's New Project
Dhiraj is now working on a new 'completely different' project, engaging with different kinds of folk tales from the Northeast. The idea of death, says Dhiraj, is fascinating to him, given that most tribes in this part of India believe in reincarnation. 'It is never a final stop, but a loop.'
He compares this to the environmental destruction being wreaked in the region in the name of development. For Dhiraj, 'this death, that of a river or a jungle, is permanent, so I am exploring this idea in a very different way. I am doing the research for that now,' he says.
Reminiscences of Home will be held at Sabha BLR between August 27 and 29. To know more, log into indiaifa.org
