Delta Lives started as a participatory arts project in the Indian Sundarbans during the pandemic, to serve as an online meeting platform for the delta communities. We facilitated local participants (mostly women, artisans, and children) to tell their stories of living in the islands in multimodal formats – stitching, embroidering, cooking, singing, performing, painting, sculpting, and more. The multimedia cocreations have been exhibited physically and globally. We also co-developed an equitable and accessible webspace with our collaborators and participants.

The project was previously funded by organisations like Goethe Institute (Mumbai), BeFantastic Bangalore, ZKM Karlsruhe, and Point of View (Mumbai). Global collaborators and mentors from Ideosync Media Combine, Treecreate (Australia) and Newsreel Asia Academy have also helped build different parts of Delta Lives.

Why are these stories important?
We aim to bring a narrative shift by portraying the people of island communities (starting from the Sundarbans) familiarly and humanely rather than exoticizing or othering them through mainstream media and Call to Action narratives. We facilitate the Sundarban locals to develop their own stories powerfully enough to convey their dreams and desires and find support and partnership globally for fulfilling them. We believe that fulfilment of dreams and desires is integral to achieving health and happiness, and healthy peoples create and maintain healthy ecosystems. Thus, we aspire to create a space for free expression, engagement and empowerment.

How do we develop and hone local storytelling?
The storytelling from the Sundarbans is honed and developed through skill-building activities introduced in weekly online classes and occasional offline workshops and trainings.
Given that literacy levels of the Sundarban participants (high school dropout rates) are low, the online classes provide communicative English, computer, and art and craft training. The onsite workshops led by experts train the locals in the crafts (stitching and embroidery), phone photography, movement/aerobics, etc.

Stories supporting livelihoods
The purpose of these online classes and onsite workshops is to generate alternative livelihoods and consequently, steady revenue streams for the Sundarbans community residing in ecologically fragile areas most vulnerable to the effects of climate disasters.

Click on the Participate button at the top of the Page to contribute to the activities at Delta
Lives.