The Story of Space 2017,  was the second edition of an interdisciplinary informal learning festival organized by The Story of Foundation. I was super lucky to be part of the resident group as a participating designer.

The project was sponsored by Hindustan Waste Treatment Pvt. Ltd at Saligaon, Goa.
Where it is currently housed and can be visited by booking a visit here.

Bringing together my association with Replenish Earth and my personal interest in advocating cohabitation, I decided to research and represent the repercussions of plastic waste in the oceans and seas.

Visitors are asked to enter a completely dark space with a UV torch light and are encouraged to explore the underwater visual. As they discover the many species under water, they are also introduced to recognizable plastic waste which has infiltrated this natural environment.

The narrative of the space is designed to fit engagement with various age groups, starting from 4-5 years of age to an older audience. Apart form a soundscape guiding the people through the dark space, a person acts as a guide (especially for younger audiences). Taking them through the nuances of the narrative like jellyfish blooms and their probable cause and effect. Every interaction in the space is different and tailor made to the audience visiting it. During the 10 days of the Story of Space Festival, I personally had the honor of interacting with various visitors and sharing my research with them.

The festival attracts a wide variety of visitors like schools, families and curious passersby. Being placed at the Goa Science Center we had an incredible audience and the opportunity of conversation ranging from phasing out waste, to territorial use of space.

For me, it all started with a podcast about jellyfish blooms and how the human habit of discarding waste in oceans and seas might be related to it. Having produced a single artifact made of one waste plastic bag- I was encouraged to develop an entire conversation around the repercussions of plastic waste in the seas/oceans and our lives.

At the end of the narrative, the visitors were encouraged to flip a light switch, to be able to visually gauge the trash collected over the course of a week and a half.

Among many other conversations, some of the recurring ones were about territories, ownership, value of life and ofcourse the fact that plastics are finding their way back into our food chain in the form of micro-plastics.

Our visitors were encouraged to ponder on the longevity of plastic and how each of us can help phase out one time use plastic from our lifestyle.

Follow some of the visitor conversations on the Replenish Earth facebook page.

This project is the effort of many individuals from The Story of Space 2017 team and volunteers. Among many others, a special mention to the project curator Deshna Mehta, her co-curator Ann Van Den Borne. The many production team members and volunteers, one among them I couldn’t have done without- Ashima Tshering.

Before these amazing people came the ones who helped in building the research and content of the exhibit- Atul Borker and Dipani Shah, two experts, who were a constant support of information throughout.

Our sponsors and supporters Sanjit Rodrigues and Richard Dias from Hindustan Waste Treatment Pvt. Ltd at Saligaon, Goa. Jonathan Dias for being our amazing narrator and Akash Sharma from Sound Codes for putting it together on an incredible immersive sound-track. And Elles Vd Heijden for these amazing pictures.

Finally Sanjana Nanodkar for being all the mental, emotional and technical support; and the wonder woman Tia Kansara for always being there.