Lockdown perspectives

A closer look at Life Through Windows illustrations

Reflecting on the last two years to take stock of what happened, and how the pandemic thus far has left us is not an easy task. It is, however, an important one at global and individual levels. Last year, students of Sir JJ College of Architecture were asked to document their lockdown experiences. Today, the exhibition titled Life Through The Pandemic, initially a curricular activity, opened to the public. Swaroop Deulkar, a fourth-year student of architecture, explains the importance of reflecting on the past to build a future. Given the assignment in January 2021 when Deulkar was in his third year, his group put together a video of their experiences called Into The Unknown. He tells us that not everyone will have had the same experiences, and that sharing perspectives helped draw a wider picture of the lockdowns' impact.

QuaranTIME board game

The depictions take on various shapes - graphic novels, short stories and posters. Bhaavya Mathur from the group exhibiting a board game called QuaranTIME shares that each of the nine group members' experiences is captured in avatars; you can pick the one that resonates with you the most. Mathur's character is Gleba, or to be precise, ‘Gleba the blob is much of a slob, waltzing away the lockdown, no sweats to win - just a happy-go-lucky clown'. The 22-year-old student explains that as you progress through the game, you find a familiarity and an overlap of experiences of being together in separate homes.

Life Through Windows showcases activities and lives within a building through its windows during the pandemic. It is presented by Rajvi Borad, Anushka Chaudhary, Prachi Gajjar, Ritika Garud, Aditya Gosavi, Abhishek Khawale, Sweta Nair, Prathama Patil, Ritika Patil and Shweta Varade

Third-year student and student council PR head, Ayushi Thakur, tells us that the exhibition also includes a Memorial to remember those in the JJ College fraternity who had succumbed to the virus. Sharing the importance of documenting lockdown experiences, Deulkar says, "The more we know about human responses, the better we can create spaces for them." Professor Mustansir Dalvi, who along with faculty member and architect Kalyani Mokasdar, tasked students with this assignment, says that while the overall thought was to archive the experiences of time during the lockdown, it also helped document the experience of occupying space for architecture students.

Mustansir Dalvi, Kalyani Mokasdar, Swaroop Deulkar, Bhaavya Mathur and Ayushi Thakur

Till April 8, 10 am to 4 pm
At Claude Batley Gallery at Sir JJ College of Architecture, Dr DN Road, opposite CSMT.
Free