Jirania

Amidst gathering dust, cement and steel, everyday lives and emotions remain topsy-turvy. A National Highway project cuts through what was once an agrarian landscape near Agartala.

Artists

Priti Das (Government College of Art and Craft, Agartala, Tripura), Bipasha Debnath (Government College of Art and Craft, Agartala, Tripura)

Medium

Acrylic on variable surface

Venue

BMS Warehouse, Opposite Holy Cross Church Mattancherry (Kuriachante Nada)

Timings

10AM to 6PM (Mon to Sunday)

Till March 31st, 2026

About

Jirania documents the massive infrastructural transformation ongoing in Northeast India's hinterlands—roadmaking being one crucial aspect. Pockets of semi-urbanity mushroom amid agricultural and forested landscapes, growing through the destruction of vast paddy fields, loss of tree canopies, and demolition of household architecture and small market areas.

Livelihoods and lifestyles remain precarious as road constructions go on for years. Jirania, near Agartala in Tripura, has been at the centre of such transformation.

Priti Das and Bipasha Debnath, residents of the area, take their own experience as the point of departure. They have collected statements and audio recordings from local people, gathered raw materials, and created photographic documentation to expand their visual medium.

What happens to a place—and its people—when progress arrives as dust and steel?

Kochi Biennale 2025