July 2022

While we have had some wonderful conversations and created some beautiful drawings and models, the participants have struggled in keeping up with the schedule. This could perhaps be due to a lack of discipline in adhering to a self-regulated or prescribed structure. I too am anxious about time: it is never enough! That is why we need to structure our engagements and responsibilities and inculcate discipline to carry the schedule through. The core of the program is to learn to work with the self as well as with others. The first requirement for this is that we commit to changing our patterns if we notice them to be ones of isolation and procrastination. The work that gets created is a byproduct of the process. The mediums that we employ are intended to make our engagement with the self easier. It is essential that we diligently follow the process. Whether or not someone else gets interested in what we create is a later part of the story. We have to be sensitive to how everyone participating feels about our participation. It is not just the best, but every thing we do which is exemplary – we set an example of expectations and delivery with every act.

Working continuously online, without even sporadic occasions of sharing space tends to make us take for granted our accountability to the others that we work with. Online we also seem to miss out on opportunities of inspiration and improvisation, which otherwise could be readily available when we witness each other’s processes in person. 

photograph: Swati Chhillar; Editing: Siddharth Singh

The energy of our in-person sessions, although disrupted by covid, has been tremendous. One of the biggest lessons for me in structuring such a program is to start with in person sessions to establish the terms of engagement and inculcate camaraderie amongst all participants. It would take less away if the participants were to work online for some time after at least a week or so of working in-person.

We look forward to closing the program in a week and half. The closure review is scheduled for the 16^th of August with Dr. Rustom Bharucha and Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya, who’ll be coming over from Kolkata & Ahmedabad, respectively. The residency’s work will be up on display for the fortnight in between. We hope to engage in some wonderful conversations with those interested in our journey.