The Seeds Sprout Dreams exhibition in Thiruvananthapuram is a fragmented homage to cinema in South Asia

The interiors of Neighbour Gallery at Kesavadasapuram in Thiruvananthapuram evoke an image of an ancestral home, partitioned into several sections, where each family member has left something of their own to ponder over. Toppled chairs, scattered passport-sized photographs, colourful frocks hung on a panel, and an unmade bed to lie down and watch the exhibit — all remind you of a presence preceding your arrival. A sombre soundtrack, intertwined with Bollywood dialogues and narrations from exhibits, further mystifies the space.

The Seeds Sprout Dreams exhibition setting, inspired by the Sunday Market flea market in Bengaluru, celebrates the “history of cinema as a scattered art form,” while paying tribute to grassroots-level stakeholders who participate in cinematic infrastructures such as distribution and conservation. The exhibition is organised by the collective Kaddukkas and is curated by filmmakers Anuj Malhotra, Ketan Dua and Mahesh S, with Laxmipriya SN heading the production.

The exhibition explores informal archives by people themselves, identifying their own definitions of taste without adhering to Western standards of what is acceptable or not, while touching on subjects such as piracy.

Anuj says, “We began the project by looking at how film culture and history were written in the context of India, and the rest of South Asia. The exhibition pays homage to film infrastructure across South Asia. There are also outdoor film screenings and makeshift cinemas made by people themselves. This project, in a way, tries to bring these ideas together of how cinema history does not need to be a clear line of events.”

It has six exhibits placed close to one another. The videos are projected on media, such as textured clothes and monitors.

Kaddukkas began working on this exhibition in July 2025, with an open call for South Asian artists or artists with South Asian origins. Following the selection of artists, they were made to play Exquisite Corpse, a surrealist game in which participants create works without seeing previous contributions for their exhibits.

The first installation from which the others were created is a film called Persistent Visions, created by artist Erika Tan. The other artists arranged themselves into a sequence. “The first artist responds to Persistent Vision, the second artist responds to the first artist’s response, and it becomes a chain of responses,” says Anuj.

The film presents a collage of materials from the image repository of the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum, with images of personal and collective videos flashing in three panels. This marks the beginning of the exhibition.

The artists explore a series of questions about memory, home, folklore, and shared mythology.

Shradha Devkota’s exhibit, Do You Remember This Too? explores the idea of home to a person who has lived in 12 different houses. For this work, she revisited the houses and made a movie about how these places feel smaller than they used to be.

Fahad Naveed’s Pardey ke Peechey: The Neighbour’s Bollywood commemorates Nishat Cinema, which was burned down in a fire in Karachi in 2012. The artist uses this event to represent an unravelling archive.

Megan Arranagu Reddy’s Can I Watch?.mp4, features an ancient woman who refuses to be photographed. The sources of this footage are unknown. This is followed by a series of more unknown footage, where the narrator follows a character, whose evasiveness is present throughout.

Layl Ali’s Jinazreen@shrine.tv is a short film about the religious lore that endures time, into the digital realm. The work is set in a shrine-like environment, surrounded by wilted flowers and half-lit candles. The short film revolves around a local shrine to the Sufi saint Miraan Maa in Karachi, exploring shared beliefs and meanings ascribed to it.

Ishan Gupta’s India is a Law Unto Itself is an auditory installation featuring an embroidery of chanting boxes that play tracks by Trinidadian musician Lord Shorty’s ‘Om Shanti Om’, among other cheap copies, reproductions and homages that the song has generated in India over the years.

The team led by Mahesh S arrived at a short fiction that outlines the various ideas that reside within the space as well as on its walls, in its corners, on the floor and on the ceiling. Apart from the multi-disciplinary exhibition, workshops and discussions are also part of The Seed Sprout Dreams.

The Seeds Sprout Dreams is on till February 7 at Neighbour Gallery at Kesavadasapuram. Register via the link in the bio of the Instagram handle @lightcube.in