‘Home 1947’ — Honouring the fallen and the surviving

As the foregoing year marked seven decades to one of the bloodiest events in world history, an exhibition titled ‘Home 1947’ opened at the Dolmen Mall, Clifton, last week, to honour memories of the 1947 partition.

Helmed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s SOC Films and British Council, the installation is an effort by various contributing artistes.

Dubbed as an ‘immersive installation’, 'Home 1947' is an ode to all those who witnessed one of the largest migrations 70 years ago, and revolves around the idea of ‘home’ because it was something all migrants left behind.

The exhibit has been divided into segments based on oral history as well as visual and audio installations which include six short documentaries and one short narrative playing on a loop.

“For me moving away from my own in India meant leaving behind my father’s grave. I felt an attachment to the soil here after we buried our mother when she died later. I wish I could have brought the soil from his grave. It is essential to hold on to the past or else we cannot strengthen our future,” narrated a survivor in one of the short films.

Another one of the tales told by a woman narrated how a family had gathered to eat Sweet Vermicelli (sawaiyan) on Eid when their house was ransacked by miscreants who killed their mother and set the house on fire. She said the images instantly come back to haunt her whenever she smells kerosene.

The footages were re-enactments of the tales told by those who witnessed the horrors of the partition. The series ended on a short film which showed grieving passengers waiting for a train to move as a mother cries while singing a lullaby to her baby about River Ravi.

Another chilling incident narrated by a woman was about when a train they were travelling to Lahore in came to a halt due to a broken engine. Her father, she recalled, had handed a pistol to her brother asking him to shoot his mother, aunt and sister if the looters got too close, because death was far better than what would happen to them.

The train was stranded for more than three days as the engine had been taken away but once it was back, they arrived in Lahore and despite staying at a house with no water or electricity, they slept well.

The next segment, ‘Safarnama’ was a dark passageway which gave a haunting outlook as the lights turned on when a visitor stepped further into the darkness. With a sound design, composed by Taha Malik, playing in the background, the corridor’s walls were painted with stills of the commotion caused during the partition. One could clearly feel a strong aroma of incense, as broken lanterns lay on the corners.

The third segment, ‘Orphans of Time’ was a projection of images of abandoned homes, alongside musician Ahsan Bari’s musical number playing on loop.

With an array of portraits as well as suitcases filled with various objects owned by refugees, ranging from a pack of cigarettes to boxes of talcum powder and brass paan boxes ‘paandaan’, the fourth segment ‘The other side of the Journey’ felt like a small museum of memories.

Before arriving in Karachi, Home 1947 was showcased in Manchester in July, followed by Mumbai in August and Lahore in October.

The exhibition concludes on January 15.