parai+ magal-eer [+leisure]
Five parai rhythms become architectural language. Preeti Paari’s thesis creates a space for Paraiyar women where caste boundaries begin to soften.
Published 31 December 2025
This has finished
- On view
- 12 December 2025 – 31 March 2026
- Times
- 10AM to 6PM (Mon to Sunday) Till March 31st, 2026
- Part of
- Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2025–26
Where
BMS Warehouse
Event venue · Bazaar Road, Mattancherry
You’ve just missed it — take it home anyway
The 2025–26 Biennale ended on 31 March 2026. The next is expected around December 2027. We made a book of all 72 exhibits, venue by venue, with the photographs — 76 pages, 9 MB.
The parai instrument is historically linked to decrees and deaths, and currently active in ritual, activism, and performance. Yet Paraiyar women are often excluded from parai rituals.
Artist
Preeti Paari (RV College of Architecture, Bangalore)
Medium
M S Iron, Collage on vinyl sticker paper, design plans on butter paper, sketches, text
About
parai+ magal-eer [+leisure] is an architectural thesis that meticulously studies the social geography, everyday violence, and restricted movement of Paraiyar women in W. Pudupatti, Tamil Nadu.
Preeti Paari translates the five fundamental parai rhythms—each with distinct cadence and function—into a foundational architectural “language.” The resulting space is dedicated to Paraiyar women but remains open to all. Its form, derived from the rhythms’ musical notations, seeks to create a space where caste struggle is acknowledged and caste boundaries begin to soften.
This installation features the project’s developmental process on a suspended tact board, the architectural model reimagined in sculptural form, and references presented through text and collage.