Notes from the Riverside

This project delves into my engagement with Hudumpur Village in Palashbari City, Assam, exploring its connection to the political landscape of late 90s Assam. Hudumpur holds historical significance as the site where photographer Anupam Nath documented the secret killings in June 1999, marking a pivotal moment that deepened the scars of violence for the local community.

My first visit in May 2022 began the process of documenting the site, but it wasn’t until I lived nearby in Mirza, Assam, from August 2023 to April 2024, that the work deepened. During my stay, I uncovered a pervasive silence within the landscape and among the local people, leading me to explore the blurred lines between fact and fiction in the political narrative. This exploration shifted my practice toward more personal drawings and memories tied to the people of Hudumpur.

Amid popular nationalism, the fading concept of separatism, and rising communalism, this fiction explores how people have survived and resisted decades of violence; particularly those whose lives were never documented. How do we remember them? Where do their stories go? Where did their dreams go?