Bori Bunder @ Platform 8: Art in Public Spaces Symposium

ArtOxygen together with Avid Learning & Institute of Contemporary Indian Art are pleased to present the symposium Bori Bunder @ Platform 8: Art in Public Spaces, a 3-part series dedicated to public art & the city. Owais Husain speaks with Kaiwan Mehta and Jaideep Mehrotra, moderated by Zeenat Nagree.

[en]counters 2016 - Bori Bunder @ Platform 8 is an investigation on the nature of Mumbai city through contemporary art interventions in public spaces. This inquiry started from the CST Terminus, probing into the station's historic legacy as a hub for international commerce, architecture & technology, interrogating its glorious and complex past on the rest of the city as it shaped into the urban metropolis that houses over 17 million people representing today a rich fabric of culture and diversity.

By exploring its former and present function, we looked at the relevance of this site to Mumbai and how art can act as a thread that links the city to its former charms while also integrating newer narratives and ideas that show how it has evolved.

Against this framework, we will delve into the complexities of public art, its challenges & preoccupations with the nature of the "public". It will also underline how creativity and art need to be considered as a pivotal factor in the way a megacity is governed, not just as an element in tourism and leisure policies, but also as instrument for civic introspection and as an agent for attracting talent and to foster critical, innovative thinking. 

Bori Bunder @ Platform 8: Art in Public Spaces will bring together practitioners and researchers to share their experiences that look at re-shaping the city and its landscape. It initiates a common platform for various stakeholders involved (artists, curators, citizens, public bodies, academia) where cultural policy, governance and the role of arts and culture can be discussed and shared. At the same time, the city of Mumbai can become an experiment, a test field where assumptions and hypotheses can be verified. 

[en]counters16 - Bori Bunder @ Platform 8 is curated, promoted and organized by ArtOxygen, in partnership with Art Together Ltd (Hong Kong), Avid Learning, Institute of Contemporary Indian Art – The Arts Trust, Palladium - Mumbai's Premier Lifestyle Destination (India), TAG Contemporary (Italy) with the support of Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Italian Embassy Cultural Centre powered by Lavazza and sponsored by Turkish Airlines, UBI Banca.