Srinagar Old City Memory Archive

This project seeks to create a memory archive for the old city of Srinagar in the Kashmir valley which is undergoing a dramatic transformation in architecture, infrastructure, demography and ownership patterns. The onslaught is motivated by the interests of the state, capital and private players. What is at peril is the lived heritage of hundreds of years, a story of arts and crafts, a vision of living and dwelling together. Through the memory archive, the project aims at freezing the alternate forms of living as they existed and reclaiming a memory of the city and the objects before they are exterminated by the homogenizing designs of the state and the market.
Using multiple practices like first-person narratives, photos and videos, architectural 3D visions of the city, audio scape, poetry and prose, the project aims to generate engagements and discussions against the erasure of memory and lived heritage of the city. The participatory research design of the project invites stakeholders, residents of the city, poets and artists to create engagement by holding on to their memory of the city. The project intends to create value in the lived heritage of the old city and city as a source of identity for its dwellers. The core principle that motivates this work will be paying attention to every story and storyteller alike, and respect for human life and forms of living.