Dhiraj Rabha draws from the evocative memories of a Rabha tribal kitchen, where the bamboo structure known as the ongari preserves items above the fire in layers of smoke. This installation transforms the ongari into a powerful metaphor with its burning embers and smoke symbolising both the warmth of preservation and the haze of obscured histories. It echoes the artist’s childhood spent listening to tales from his mother, juxtaposed against a darker backdrop of violence and displacement in Assam. Yet, this is not a nostalgic work. It resists sentimentality by grounding its metaphors in the physicality of materials—bamboo, wood, tracing paper—merged with the precision of technology. The viewer is not merely a spectator but a participant, moving through layers of sound, image, and memory.
