Change is the only constant | Akanksha Patil's 'Narratives in Transit'
Artist Akanksha Patil documents a Maharasthra village displaced by development
Exploring themes of migration, identity, belonging and displacement, a new solo exhibition in the capital provides a poignant perspective on development and its human cost. Artist Akanksha Patil engages with Shivangaon, a village in Maharashtra impacted by the expansion of Nagpur airport. She spent two and a half years documenting every fragment of Shivangaon, deeply affected by the realities of urban expansion and forced migration, capturing its shift from a village to a demolition site. “Incorporating corrugated sheets, cardboard, ceramic, wood, cloth, bricks, cement, found materials, everyday objects and video projection, I present the community’s voices and loss,” she says.
Exploring themes of migration, identity, belonging and displacement, a new solo exhibition in the capital provides a poignant perspective on development and its human cost. Artist Akanksha Patil engages with Shivangaon, a village in Maharashtra impacted by the expansion of Nagpur airport. She spent two and a half years documenting every fragment of Shivangaon, deeply affected by the realities of urban expansion and forced migration, capturing its shift from a village to a demolition site. “Incorporating corrugated sheets, cardboard, ceramic, wood, cloth, bricks, cement, found materials, everyday objects and video projection, I present the community’s voices and loss,” she says.
Patil’s practice is deeply rooted in the idea of ‘saudade’—a Portuguese term expressing the melancholic longing for a home left behind. The works investigate displacement, urban expansion and the erosion of cultural practices. Incorporating drawings made by local children alongside photographs and maps, it forms an intimate archive of memory and place. “Patil’s practice is both personal and political. Drawing from lived experiences, she creates narratives that reflect broader socio-cultural transformations,” adds curator Georgina Maddox.
—The exhibition is on at Gallery Art Positive, New Delhi, till April 27
