From My Point of View

A third of Delhis population of 14 million people live in so-called slums. These areas are illegal settlements. The people are on the margins of society and at the same time the motor of Delhi everyday life. Delhis economy is based on the cheap labour that people living in the slums can provide, yet they seem to be invisible.
This projects aim was to create a space where the narratives from the different slums could be shared and made visible. They were shared among each other in the different localities and the exhibition was then shown in different cities and spaces in Sweden.

In all 12 children from the ages 10-12 created the exhibition. They come from the slum areas, Nangla Machi (Naked fish), Patparganj and Khichiripur (mixed up place). They took photos of their neighbourhoods and shared thoughts about the place where they live. The exhibition toured different slums in Delhi creating discussions and strong reactions among the people. Disscussions regarding the thoughts brought out by the children and also by the way the slums were portrayed. Many had never seen the slums documented in this fashion or ever visited an exhibition.

The tour of the exhibition continued in Sweden to the Art Museum in Malmö, a very different space but perhaps not so different reactions. The images and texts contrasting and in conflict with each other and the image that prevails of slums and the people that live there.

In Sweden the exhibition then continued to be shown at various cultural centres, was a part of an anti rasism festival that took place in various parts of the country etc.

In May 2006, the slum Nangla Machi was brutally demolished by the Delhi government some young people living there has documented the demolition on the blog: http://nangla.freeflux.net/

Emma