Join us at Arthshila Goa for a talk, Auscultation: False Clouds and Real Deluges by Atul Bhalla

This session is presented in collaboration with Goa Water Stories

DETAILS
Date: 08 November (Saturday)
Time: 6.30 PM Onwards

The talk will engage with Atul’s sustained preoccupation with the water in urban areas by discussing some of the processes and manifestations of research works at sites. Attempting to explore the political through the poetical, these works seek to understand water as a repository of history, meaning, and myth: the way he perceives it, feels it, drinks it, and swims, sinks, or drowns in it. At the same time, they form the basis of his practice, leading to questions of water distribution, regulation, commodification, and pollution, and that “You always step into the same river.”

Atul Bhalla is a conceptual artist and Professor of Visual Art at Shiv Nadar Institute of Eminence, NCR. His work explores environmental urgencies, especially the politics and histories of water through photography, video, installation, and performance. A 2025 Rockefeller Bellagio Resident, he has held residencies at Cornell and Witwatersrand. His works have been shown at the Pompidou Centre, Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Harvard Art Museums, and Craft Contemporary, and are in collections including the Smithsonian and KNMA. Bhalla has published two books and participated in major exhibitions, including the Fukuoka Triennial and FotoFest Houston.

Goa Water Stories is a digital archive exploring narratives of water in Goa through 18 multimedia projects by 30 young participants. The project highlights the local relationships with water, ecology, livelihoods, and climate change in Goa. Supported by GIM, Goa University, Sunaparanta, FICA, and Serendipity Arts Foundation.