Join us for a talk by Sarnath Banerjee on ‘The Battle of Kalkaji’.

DETAILS:
Date: 23 March 2024 | Saturday
Time: 6:00 pm onward

𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗩𝗶𝗸𝗮𝘀𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗶, is a work of political imagination. The comic book is set against the backdrop of the Water Wars of Delhi. A dystopian urban warfare where neighbourhoods fight each other, citizens take up arms, families split up, real-estate agents become warlords and familiar locations become battlegrounds. Amidst this mayhem, we see the appearance of Girish, the Psychic Plumber, who embarks upon a Homeric journey to the centre of the earth, in search of the mythical river Saraswati. On his journey, he meets people who are quintessential members of a rapidly changing city who are either banished from it or rendered irrelevant. In a growth-obsessed society, replete with corporate greed, short-termism, and the politics of thuggery, Girish seems like the only hope.

The comic book led to a series of theatrical lectures called 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝘀 of Delhi.

These lectures are a result of a collaboration between Abhijit Banerjee and Sarnath Banerjee, conducted during a fellowship awarded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The film candidly explores failed policies and bad economic decisions.

𝗦𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗷𝗲𝗲 has written five graphic novels (published by Penguin and Harper Collins) and finishing his sixth, which is supported by a stipendium from the Berlin Senate. He has shown his work at several Biennales (Saopaolo, Setouchi, Sharjah, Kochi, etc) and Art Fairs (Frieze, Arco, etc) and has had several international solos and group shows in museums and centers of contemporary art.  He has also had public commissions, notably a series of billboards across London during the London Olympics titled the Gallery of Losers. He has written columns for national newspapers and founded an independent publishing house called Phantomville.

Venue: Arthshila Ahmedabad
2-G, Opposite Ahmedabad Management Association, Panjrapol, Ambawadi – 380015