LAYERED NARRATIVES
A series of artworks flank the moving walkways leading the disembarking travellers towards the baggage claim area. Intended as an introduction to Mumbai, and by extension, the generic city that exists everywhere in India, they reveal the fluid nature of urbanism, its changing landscapes, dreams, memories, and dynamics.
CURATORIAL NOTE ON THE ARTWORK PROGRAM
In India we mark and celebrate every rite of passage, particularly in travel – every threshold and doorway is enriched by ritual consecrating the journey through it. Our ambition was to bring this sensibility to the airport, infusing meaning into the huge spatial volumes of T2 Mumbai. Jaya He was conceived as an initiation into the immediate environment and the larger context of the airport, the city of Mumbai and of India as a whole. Reflecting the many - layered story that is India, the collection evolved into an immense multi-disciplinary endeavour, like a new museum. Arguably India’s largest public art initiative, Jaya He has two distinct sections so far. The first of these is in the arrivals corridor, consisting of a series of nos. especially commissioned artworks that map the city as a layered narrative, unfolding page by page before the disembarking travellers. The second section is a wall running like a central curvilinear spine, designed to direct and control circulation of passengers through the terminal. I wanted the wall itself to become the artwork of an immense sculptural tableau of India’s plural cultural legacy, living traditions and contemporary artistic expression. Jaya He brought together designers, artists, artisans, architects, art historians, anthropologists and conservators with technicians, all working together to distil and interpret India culturally, aesthetically, historically and socially in a manner that leaves visitors with doubt that they are in the heart of the South Asian subcontinent.