Ohida Khandakar

Thonga

Thonga workshop documentation: participants folding printed photograph sheets into paper carry bags (Thongas) at Katha Community Centre, Govindpuri, New Delhi, 2017. The six-panel composite shows the folding process, piles of completed bags, and a child holding finished Thongas printed with images of community homes.

Community art project, Govindpuri, New Delhi, 2017. A three-day workshop with residents of the Govindpuri urban village making paper carry bags (Thongas) printed with photographs of their own homes — culminating in a one-day public installation.

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Khandakar Ohida

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Community art project, 2017
Katha Community Centre & Open Ground, Govindpuri, New Delhi

Developed in 2017 with fellow art practitioners Sharad Das and Dhrubajit Sharma, invited by Tracing Art in Public (TAP) to organize a community-based art project in Govindpuri, an urban village and slum in South Delhi mainly inhabited by migrated laborers from various states.

Thonga workshop documentation: participants folding printed photograph sheets into paper carry bags (Thongas) at Katha Community Centre, Govindpuri, New Delhi, 2017. The six-panel composite shows the folding process, piles of completed bags, and a child holding finished Thongas printed with images of community homes.
Workshop at Katha Community Centre, Govindpuri, 2017
Thonga installation preparation: participants assembling bags at Katha Community Centre, a metal scaffolding structure, and the growing tower of photo-printed bags being constructed indoors. Bottom panels show the finished bags displayed on outdoor washing lines during the installation setup, Govindpuri, New Delhi, 2017.
Installation in preparation
Thonga, final day public display at Open Ground, Govindpuri, New Delhi, 2017. Community members — adults and children — gather around two large tower-form installations constructed entirely from handmade Thongas printed with photographs of their own homes.
Final day public display, Open Ground, Govindpuri, 2017
Thonga, final day public display at Open Ground, Govindpuri, New Delhi, 2017. Community members — adults and children — gather around two large tower-form installations constructed entirely from handmade Thongas printed with photographs of their own homes. The installation was exhibited for one day to invite community interaction and engagement.

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