“What makes a city” is the question that permeates this work. In order to suggest an answer, the artists work with the coined concept of “metromorphosis”,  a phenomenon of regeneration, adaptation and evolution of urban centres and metropolises. This is a cumulative result of policies, varying political regimes, development codes and natural restraints combined with the ingenuity of its inhabitants finding loopholes within prescribed laws to fit their aspirations, needs and wants as individuals and as communities.

The city of Mumbai has gone through a series of metromorphoses since the early 90s, changing its form under the pressure of real estate speculation and other economic interests together with the interplay of factors such as permissible FSI (floor space index), TDR (Transferrable developmental rights) and CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone). They are often in conflict with the demands and aspirations of workers, marginalized and indigenous communities, such as the  Koli. These interests at struggle manifest as a “complex adaptive system” with sophisticated information processing and patterns.

In this installation, Kulavoor worked in collaboration with production designer and artist, Sandeep Meher – himself belonging to the Koli community – and his team of set designers to  construct a sprawling version of a metropolis. Its miniature size ironically highlights the enormous scale and absurdity of metromorphosis in Mumbai, with its multiplicity, complexity, scarcity and density. A particular, almost obsessive attention to details highlights architecture’s problematic relation to identity. The artist attempts a representation of Mumbai’s metabolism, identifying the social, physical, natural and political forces that have informed Mumbai’s urban landscape.

Miniature production work by Creativo_7 : Yogesh Badade, Dheeraj Chachad Suraj Bhuvad, Rupesh More, Sarvesh Pawar, Ankit Mohite, Sahil Gaikwad, Akshada Salvi, Anup Chivhane, Anil Rathod, Chetan Sutar, Prasad Kalaka, Saurabh Murudkar, Gaurav Devashe, Tajas Saudhankar, Atharv Ghatulkar, Rohit Kharote, Niyati Kamble, Chinmay Rahate, Akshay Machivle, Mayur Waghmare.