Session
Workshop
Surajit Mudi
The third part of the activities and workshops began with a session by Surajit Mudi in an abandoned building of Old Kolkata, which used to be a venue for practicing public theatre throughout the latter half of the 20th century, until recently. There, he demonstrated the Camera Obscura — one of the oldest methods of image capturing and reproduction, conducted inside a darkroom.
Participants were asked to prepare prompts focusing on the theme of "memories of lost places in the city".
These prompts were read and recited on-site, with the aim of reinterpreting the concept of public memory. In addition to the discussions, the session included a technical demonstration of how to make a pinhole camera. We repurposed a prop from the theatre hall into a pinhole camera, using an aperture and a light-sensitive film to capture images.
With this primitive camera, we travelled through the theatre para of North Kolkata, near Hatibagan, and visited the facades of the age-old theatre houses, some of which — like "Bijon and Purnasree" — had already been taken over by builders.
However, we were fortunate enough to enter "Circarina", one of the oldest public theatre venues in Asia, known for its revolving stage. Our discussion continued on themes of abandonment, obscure images, forgotten culture, and the lost spaces of Kolkata.
