Interactive media installation Land without Food delves into the painful histories and trauma of the Bengal Famine, among other famines of the Global Souths, and in Central Asia. The artwork broadly addresses the past and present global food crises and examines their causes, unpacking their roots in colonial hegemonies. The installation emerges from archival research to build a sound-driven augmented experience that invites the audience to sensorially engage and activate intersubjective encounters, prompting affective and poetic narratives from archival reassemblages. As a participatory installation, the project situates empathetic feeding as a reparative action and a decolonial gesture in recognizing contemporary hunger crises across the Global Souths. The fuller version of the project will premiere at the Korkut Triennale in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in 2026.
Exhibition of ongoing research and a prototype of the work at Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkata, opening on 24 December 2025.
A situated program of events is curated around the exhibition.
Dec 24, 2025, 6 pm (IST):
Welcome address: Sudipto Dawn
Introduction: Budhaditya Chattopadhyay
Opening of exhibition and inaugural speech: Mr. Debashis Sen (IAS retd.)
Performance: Students of Loreto College
Performance: Students of the Institute of Business Management
Performance: Janardan Ghosh
Dec 26, 2025, 6 pm (IST)
Welcome address: Sudipto Dawn
Introductory Talk: Budhaditya Chattopadhyay
Performance: Culture Monks and Budhaditya Chattopadhyay
Talk: Prof. Sanjoy Mukhopadhyay
Songs: Moushumi Bhowmik and Satyaki Banerjee
Dec 27, 2025, 11 am (IST)
Welcome address: Sudipto Dawn
Introductory Talk: Budhaditya Chattopadhyay
Film Screening: “The Cost of Growth”
Discussions with Dr. Brototi Roy
Sound Across 