A game for change

At the recently concluded India Art Fair, Thukral & Tangra launched and Archive, an interactive collection of books and games that spark conversations around socio-economic notions

Our families have a history of archiving and printing," says Sumir Tagra, one half of the artist duo Thukral & Tagra. "Jiten's father still runs a design studio in Jalandhar, and my family's printing press in New Delhi, specialised in offset printing. So we both have a common understanding of paper and print. Jiten's probably been letter-pressing since he was eight years old." His counterpart Jiten Thukral adds, "There was a printing press opposite my house… just 10 steps away. You could hear it working through the day and night. That's where my love for paper and old-style printing began… and there were no computers at the time, so I used to typeset by hand for my father."

Growing up immersed in this skill, the Gurugram-based duo naturally gravitated towards building their own publication. "There are multiple proposals that go into creating an exhibition which no one ever gets to see…," says Tagra, "or many sketches before a final painting reaches a collector's home. We wonder how to reward ourselves for this creative process, and maintain these dairies and archives. This isn't just for us, many artists constantly ask the question ‘what are the means of archiving'?"

At this year's India Art Fair, the duo launched and Archive, an interactive collection of books and games that spark conversations around socio-economic notions such as climate change, food insecurity, gender inequality, failure, agrarian crisis, debts, farmer suicides and rejection. It also marked 20 years of the two working together. "This has mostly come about from a pure love for books," says Thukral, "and the desire to create a space for other artists to talk about what they believe in. The games are an extension of the books." "We used a simple game design module as a tool of social intervention to create urgency and a call to action for systematic awareness, warning and change," adds Tagra.

The games took Thukral & Tagra nine months to a year to create. An hour of role playing any of the games is enough for a player to get an in-depth idea of the subject matter. "This is different from reading a book or watching a film or your friend telling you about something," says Thukral, "Playing allows you to live the experience in a personal way."

The game Weeping Farm has two sets of cards, one representing rabi and another kharif seasonal crop

For Instance, take the Weeping Farm. It is printed on hand-woven fabric with two sets of cards representing rabi and kharif seasonal crops. Players shadow the life of a female farmer (living with overwhelming odds) for the span of a year, taking on her life situations and scenarios. "Burdened with overdue debts, all-female cultivators battle with daily trials and tribulations. With each card played, one has to make an attempt to survive through these situation. Some of the games are also a culmination of a book from the archive," shares Tagra.

Sumir Tagra and Jiten Thukral

Scanning the QR codes on the games throws up more information. "We're moving away from the norm of how a game should be played and what it should look like," says Tagra. "There are performative elements such as missing a turn to run into the kitchen to drink water," he relates while explaining the game 2030. With 51 billion tonnes of greenhouse gasses being added to the atmosphere each year, a players has to bring these down to zero through the game. "The game 2030 questions your daily movements and habits, what you eat and how you live - and how it has caused unprecedented climate changes to occur," say the duo. The objective is to save your resources, play down your emissions, balance the global temperature and act upon climate urgency. In the game, glasses of water serve as props, which is a valuable resource meant to be saved. "If a person finishes all their water - the currency they're working with - they're thrown out of the game!," they exclaim.

WHAT: and Archive
WHERE: andarchive.in
PRICE: Rs 1,499 onwards