Julia Gutge
Paroj Banerjee
Claudia Roselli
Suruchi Dumpawar

The patchwork group investigated the social configuration in Kirkhee and in its neighborhoods, trying to catch the true composition of the area. By meeting and interviewing inhabitants, collecting objects and stories, the group aimed at understanding the real or the narrated image of Khirkee. The result includes an emotional map, a photo give-away and an interactive book, together telling the story of Khirkee.

The Emotional book.

Julia Gutge
Paroj Banerjee

The idea was to create a map of Khirkee. But not an ordinary just geographical map. We wanted to create  a  map,  that  is  connected  to  the  people  in  Khirkee. A map, that is  full of stories  and emotions … So we went out and talked to people we met in different places all over Khikee: In the  streets,  in  their  shops  or  in  their  homes.  All of  them  were  really  surprised  that  a  team  of  exotic  looking  people  with  cameras  and  notebooks  want  to  talk  to  them.  But  after  the  first  seconds  of  irritation  and  thinking  “what  do  they  want  from  me?”  the  conversation  somehow  gets  a  natural  flow.

After a little regular  talk,  there  were  two  main  questions.  We asked everybody:  One  “colour question” and one  “object question”.  The  “colour question” was about the clue,    that  we  wanted  to  find  out  what  colour  the  people  associate  with  Khirkee.  It was not so easy to answer, because the question is quite abstract, but after some moments  of  thinking  people  answered  pretty  interesting  associations.  For example:  “Green, because many  Muslims  are  living  in  Khrikee  and green  is  the  colour  of  their  religion”, “Red,  because  the  fort  is  red  and  I  can  see  the  fort  everyday out  of  my  window”,  “Grey,  because  everything  is  so  dirty  in  here” or  “Brown,  because  Khirkee means  window  frame  and  window  frames  are  usually  brown”. With this  information  of  the people we were finally able to create an emotional patchwork map with the colours they told us. 

The “object question” was about the clue, that we wanted to find out what object, can be a symbol  of  the  peoples  connection  to  Khirkee.  Here again  the  people  had  to  think  a  while,  but  then  they  give us really interesting objects. For  example:  A  man  we  gives  us  a  piece  of  kohl,  because  he  is  working  as  an  ironing  man  and  he  uses  the  kohl  daily  for  his  iron. And another  man  gives  us  a  chip  for  playing  computer  games,  because  he  owns  a  small  shop,  were  children  can  play  computer  games.  A  young girl  we  interviewed  gives  us  a  picture  of  her  family  picture,  because  she  lives  together  with  her  family  in  Khirkee.  And  the  owner  of  a  little  paper  recycling  shop  gives  us  a  piece  of  newspaper,  which  symbolize  his  work  in Khirkee.

At  the  presentation  day  we  hang  out  all  our  collected  things  in  the  street.  The patchwork  piece,  which  had  coloured  pieces  of  fabrics  and  quotes  from  the  interview  on  it. And under  a  construction  site,  we  hang  some  mobile  pieces.  On the  mobile  pieces  you  could  see  the  interview  texts, photos and the objects.

Facing Khirkee.

Julia Gutge.

“Facing Khirkee” is a photo project which tries to face Khirkee in the way of a portrait series. When I walked around in the small streets and entered hidden yards during the “Urban Typhoon workshop” I met many interesting people and started to interact with them. All together I clicked over 100 portraits; the ones you see down there are just some of them. As a resume I can just say: “Muchco Khirkee log bahut passand hai!”

Imagine Kirkhee.

Claudia Roselli

“Imagine Kirkee” is an interactive notebook containing stories discovered during walks around Kirkee and Hauz Rani Village, histories of informal workers that are interconnected economically with the Saket Mall – as formal and informal economies have always a silent or hidden dialogue. Interactive because, there describe some performative and participatory process to do with the local people, aimed to re-contextualize the symbolic role of the Majid and to give a possible interpretation of a nowhere land between the neighborhood and the shopping mall.

Each book cover is unique, because made by fabric pieces gifted to me by the local workers after the interviews that I made. The pages of the books are composed by words and images picked up during the exploratory drift around the neighborhood. It’s a collection of spots, private views inside a hidden work place, where the sounds of the stitching machines are the work’s rhythm: a starting point for thoughts on the contemporary Kirkhee urban composition. It can be an instrument for play with the imagination, rather to prove the possibility to create performative ideas with the Khirkee inhabitants all around the neighborhood.

Tools utilized:

Free walks – Free meetings – Informal interviews – Collection of objects and histories  – Images – Observation

- Example of per-formative actions useful as a dialogue with all the people that live in the neighborhood -

What it’s the MOSQUEE today?

This performance is thought to be acted on the Khirkee streets and on their closest places and spaces. I printed post cards, one side an ironic question in what is the real meaning of Mosque today, and on the other side all white space, as a blank supports that can contain all kind of expressions. It creates a possibility to play with words or drawings, regarding the future interpretation for the Khirkee Masjid. Giving the possibility to the inhabitants to express themselves by different tools, not only verbal one, that they usually use during the committee of the Resident Welfare Association. The sentence, the question on the post cards will be translated in Hindi, Urdu and English.

Distribute the small cards all around the neighborhood, asking the people to draw, write or represent their opinions, or their imaginative ideas/desires for the space of the Masjid. After the distribution of the cards, fixed an “appointment” inside the Masjid, inviting people to come there. The date will be an appointment to talk personally regarding different opinions and a performative interaction to discover the architectural spaces inside the monument.

The public situation will be thought for:

- creating an open discussion between people.

- decontextualize the place of the Masjid, across a real action that can revitalized the space.

What did you imagine for this land?

PLAY WITH THE IMAGINATION (for the land in between)

There is a land “in between” the Saket mall and the Khirkee neighborhood.

To set up an open discussion with the people aims to create a participatory action and talk, I thought to print different postcards, with the imagines of this piece of land and the question:

- What do you imagine for this land? -

The activity is thought to made for awaken the possibility to imagine for the local people, to understanding their real needs and necessities and to create a real project suitable for this area, able to better respond to the future sustainable development of this place.

At the end, collect all the postcards and creating a public dialogue with the people. As there is a project thought for this area: parking and a series of small shops, the participatory play with the local people, will be an instrument to “check the pulse of the idea”, for collect new impressions. As this land  “in between” will have really a strategic point, for the people who live there as hinge zone among the Saket city mall and the urban village of Khirkee

Process of making “Imagine Kirkhee”

Each unique cover-board, made by different pieces of fabrics that the artisans gave to me as a material element of their work, represent the uniqueness of the hand made work “made in Kirkhee and in Hauz Rani”. The aim is to develop a real relation with objects born in Kirkhee, a strong relation between true objects and place, to develop the sense of belonging in the neighborhood. To strengthen the place’s local identity instead of suffocating and destroying it as the slow process of gentrification aims to do.  The interactive book can be utilized by people as a diary to write sensations and change on the neighborhood.