'Breathless: Documenting India's Air Emergency'

On June 5, 2019, Aruna Chandrasekhar and Ishan Tankha exhibited their year-long investigation into highly toxic areas across India, documenting and curating everyday experiences of, and resistance to, air pollution. The exhibition, held in Delhi's Bikaner House from June 5-9, was launched with panel discussions and performance art. The exhibition and launch event were supported by the Clean Air Collective and Help Delhi Breathe- both networks of concerned citizens and organizations that advocate for clean air. 

Aruna, a photojournalist, activist and researcher, works on corporate accountability and indigenous rights among other things, had bronchitis as a child. Ishan, a photographer, has documented environmental and land conflicts in central India. Two members of his family have asthma. They met in a public hearing on pollution due to coal mining, and realized that discussions on air pollution in India are mostly Delhi-centric and data-driven. There was a need to humanize the air pollution story, and take it beyond Delhi. 

The project and exhibition 'Breathless' thus documents stories from Mahul in Mumbai, Korba in Chattisgarh, Faridkot in Punjab, Ennore in Chennai, and Bengaluru. They are about "ordinary people who resist extraordinary pollution and polluters". 

This essay collects impressions of the event.