Weaving Pavement is an exhibition that depicts the story of how road building is changing traditional livelihoods by examining the changing presence of handicrafts in the rural Makalu region in northeastern Nepal. By positioning two unlikely things together (roads and handicrafts), I attempted to see what may be revealed about the macrosystems that dictate how rural landscapes are changing. What resulted is a cultural study of a tender landscape, defined by its community and centuries-long history, changing by way of pavement.
My interest in this topic meshes with my previous conceptual studies: the role of the “corridor” within urban form, per Richard T.T. Forman, and its impact on spatial structures; the idea of change and development vs. preservation and practices of heritage management; the role of anthropology and slow research within design practice.
Presented in this exhibition is a visual representation of anthropological study. My intention was to communicate such research forms to the public, designers, and policy-makers in a captivating way, testing a new type of language that can be clear and legible for different people to digest. My goal was to inspire designers and policy-makers to consider human methods in their own work, and more generally to spark dialogue among people about how we think about our changing world.
The exhibition reflects research conducted over a 10-month Fulbright Research Grant, during which I spent a total of 4 months living in the Makalu Gaunpalika area.
The exhibition was held at Dalai-La Art Space, in Thamel, Kathmandu. Two rooms featured the work, the first one displaying primary research elements, and the second room incorporating some visual interpretations of my study including sculpture, illustration, and installation.
The exhibition was divided into three main segments: Landscapes of Change, Weaving Wisdoms, and Meshed Futures. The content is best understood in this order.
This video captures the exhibition opening on February 16th. It was shot and edited by @_clic_k_2
The introduction to the show outlined the purpose and broader context of the research and introduced the region in which the research took place. I hung a traditional dokko basket on the side, containing copies of 2 different illustrations and the exhibition poster for visitors to take. Dotted along the exhibition wall are traditional carpet patterns, which were cut out of paper and applied directly to the wall.
Most of the visualizations were placed on one wall of the gallery, working through two main sections: "Landscapes of Change" and "Woven Wisdoms."
The segment "Landscapes of Change" is intended to show Simma, and the surrounding sites, as places that are constantly changing over both space and time, rather than frozen in time. This contradicts narratives calling for preservation of older traditions. How can a living ecosystem, of culture and nature, be fixed to the past when it has, and always will, evolve?
"Woven Wisdoms" presents the culture of handicrafts in Simma and Makalu Gaunpalika. I tell the story of artisans, and displays older and newer crafts.
The first element of the exhibit is intended to paint a picture of Simma and the surrounding villages: to engage the viewer, offering a glimpse of life. The base map outlines the Koshi Highway, Arun River, and smaller tractor roads, drawn on a canvas from a projection.
Something compelling in my journeys to and from Simma was how dramatically the landscape changes as I traveled from Tumlingtar (where the airport is) north towards and beyond Simma. This chart depicts the Koshi Highway, abstracted on the elevation chart of the roadway, matching the cities passed through. I collaged buildings on the base map, on which I indicated the type of road and illustrated buildings and crops present in the corresponding areas.
In order to illustrate how Makalu Gaunpalika changed over time, I took information gathered during various conversations and interviews and created icons to depict major development changes that I overlayed over base maps of the region.
To offer visitors with additional information, I created a booklet that go into greater depth about the processes of change affecting the area. I chronicled each jeep ride to and from Simma, which I copied in the book, as well as factual details about elements marked in the timelapse.
This sub-section details the Koshi Highway. I used Google Earth to examine the impact of the road as it pertained to the physical environment and micro-migrations in the small area surrounding Simma– a simple but very useful tool. The booklet incorporates information from my interviews detailing motivations behind migration trends.
Woven Wisdoms, the second section of the exhibition, displays a part of the traditional livelihoods I lived among in the villages. I start the section by featuring profiles of some of the many artisans I met.
During the course of my research, I witnessed the entirety of some crop cycles and was struck by how everything, including handicrafts, depends on an annual cycle. The chart below chronicles some of the more predominant cycles I encountered. Development and road building is also very much dependent on weather: the monsoon season shuts down any building attempts.
I was able to physically trace the journey of handicrafts, from origin through production. I mapped out the journey and detailed the process behind the raari (sheep wool rug) which spans the entirety of Makalu Gaunpalika and beyond. An additional booklet was added to share the sheep herders' experience.
Meshed Futures is the last section of the exhibition, intended to spark curiosity to imagine life beyond what it has been and how it is seemingly laid out given existing plans for development and migratory trends. Given the conceptual nature of my research, this section felt critical yet most difficult: ideas that I was, and still am, churning in my head the most are the most difficult concepts to articulate.
How can development projects, such as road building, be harnessed in ways that empower local people?
How can weaving be a metaphor, a tool or framework, for developers, policy-makers, design practitioners to develop futures that both look ahead while honoring past systems of ways of living and knowledges?
The above photo journal, called "Following Footsteps," is a compilation of images moving from rural settings to more developed regions.
I created a video that collages together different clips, depicting traditional activities and modes of living in parallel with road building, driving, and other development.
In addition to presenting my research in maps, diagrams, and charts, I wanted to convey my research through visual art. This took shape in illustrations, photographs, sculpture, and installation.
The illustrations were scanned and enlarged from my sketchbook. Both sketches were drawn from the same balcony at my Aama's house: overlooking the land below, before (left) and after (right) the corn had grown. These sketches were printed in smaller formats and available for visitors to take.
I am fascinated by the concept of weaving as a representation of the existing landscape. So many elements are at play in Makalu Gaunpalika: rivers and streams, the national park borders, walking routes, highway projects, new health posts and old medicinal practices, to give a few examples. How do these elements come together?
Larger format photographs of life in Makalu Gaunpalika.
I hoped to bring the village into the gallery through this installation. Many of the newer houses are built primarily out of tin rather than mud and thatch or rock, yet older traditions remain. Seeing Simma in the gallery space made me consider the beauty of these parallel worlds in more depth that I had not anticipated.
I included my personal introduction near the entrance of the exhibit. I feel strongly that my own position be made clear at the beginning: everything in the exhibit is a reflection of my experience.
The exhibition would not have been made possible without the production team Artrio.
