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Numaish
video | documentary | 2015
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Numaish observes a moment that involves lost children, seasoned volunteers, an announcement booth and the herculean task of connecting these dots against the backdrop of a large scale product exhibition in Hyderabad.
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Set in the first year of the formation of a new state, Telangana, after several decades of peoples' struggle for a self-determination, the video films at a site of continued hyper-commodification. Numaish is an annual consumer goods exhibition has been in the running since 1938 and remained the only event of its kind in the world to be organised at a stretch for a 46-day period across a 23-acre (93,000 m2) space. A location of that scale with dizzying lights, an ocean of visitors and attractive objects and rides, also means that the site has seen its fair share of those who lose their way in the crowd. And a range of volunteers that help reunite them with their families.
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The video focusses on this very small nook within a larger premise that collaborates with the existing infrastructure of a radio booth next to it which is set up to essentially promote and advertise the products on their interconnected network of PA systems. This system is also occasionally used to announce to the families of the strayed children brought to the lost-and-found booth.
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The video shares brief moments of encounters within a new post-modern society, reflecting on community and contingencies.
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Screenings/Exhibitions:
º 2016 | Dublin Doc Fest, Ireland
º 2016 | Videokanava, Finland