Art Across the Lines

with Artist Srikanta Paul
and human rights organisation Anjali 

Hidden away from the main streets and across the railway lines, the residents of Kolkata’s Pavlov Hospital (in association with mental health and human rights organisation Anjali), collaborated with artist Srikanta Paul and his team Ruma Choudhury and Tanmay Chakraborty to create an immersive artwork that expresses their dreams and aspirations. The hospital, at the time a site under construction, is a home of sorts to people overcoming mental health issues, as well as people who are left without a home even after recovery. The experience of living within its guarded walls leads to conflicting and often unresolved ideas about self, identity, home and community. This artwork is an attempt to give shape to these ideas, and briefly occupy the space with the voices of those living in the hospital.