Listening to a Place: creative practice with(in) living contexts

Abstract/Brief of the course

We live in contemporary worlds that reward speed, noise and reaction. The socio-technical, political and institutional machinery that surrounds us creates fragmented attention and leaves little room for slowness, observation and deliberation when it comes to the matter of practice. This course positions listening as an essential creative practice: an alternative mode of acting, doing, and being in the world which is guided by curiosity, observation, attention and radical slowness, against the speed and temporalities of modern life. Listening is a way of embracing plurality, the ability to differentiate, critically examining the dominant narrative, learning to resolve discomfort, and taking a grounded approach to systems one encounters or shapes. The more-than-human world, affected by almost all the disciplines, domains, professions or expertise needs us to develop a practice of listening so that we are able to make choices and decisions in a non-anthropocentric manner. 

We invite everyone keen to bring their attention to the ecological crisis, dialogue on modern life and its impacts on nature, emphasise the indigenous knowledge of a landscape, and co-create alternative ways of seeing. 

In this edition of listening to a place, we expand on the many ways of listening-in-practice with(in) the living contexts of Open Natural Ecosystems (ONEs). Open Natural Ecosystems (ONEs) are made up of grasslands and scrublands that continue to be classified as 'wastelands’ (only recently, in August 2026, the Union Government of India released a guide to Indian Grasslands and Open Natural Ecosystems). These ecosystems are beautifully and intricately tied to the health of the ecology, fauna, water and the soil of the region. These ecosystems are also linked to farming and pastoralist livelihoods & practices. The human interaction with this landscape through farming, pastoral and cultural practices are encoded with ecological knowledge over generations. 

The curriculum will bring learners to the ongoing permanent exhibition Beneath the Turning Sky at the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP), offering learners moments of slow encounters with  artworks in the museum’s collection. We will explore the museum as a space for continuous learning where exhibits can provoke sustained inquiries, facilitate collective learning and dialogue in each of the tracks for this course. The facilitators, along with visiting fellows (artist, photographer and creative practitioner), will introduce different processes and methods of listening in their own practice.

You will have the choice to build inquiries and curiosities through three tracks available in this course. The choice of tracks are,

Track 01: Greater Hesaraghatta Conservation Reserve
Track 02: Grasslands in Bidar
Track 03: Online, with you choosing an Open Natural Ecosystem located nearby or accessible to where you are during the course.

Images from ->Track 01, 02 & 03. Image 03(https://www.atree.org/one-map/)

All three tracks will take you through a shared learning experience with your cohort members, community collaborators and living contexts of ONE to practice listening in many ways and forms to blend creative practice with your own practice.

Key words

grasslands, open natural ecosystems, listening-in-practice, museums as educators, creative practice

Objective of the course

The course objective is to offer learning facilitation to researchers, practitioners and life-long learners to

1. Bring attention to and engage with sensitive ecologies such as ONEs through creative inquiry methods

2. Explore museums as spaces for generating sustained learning curiosities, inquiries and dialogue 

3. Foster collaborative learning in adult learners with approaches to engage with complexity inherent to living contexts

4. Introduce ways to learn from processes and methods from other disciplines, artistic and creative practices 

Left & Right Images from previous edition of listening to the place, LLI [Image Source: LLI]; Center image: Phagun, Madan Meena, 2020, Silkscreen and natural pigments on paper, MAC.03112 [Image source: Museum of Art & Photography]

Learning Outcomes

1. You will be able to develop listening as a practice 

2. Be able to situate and unpack inquiries within highly interconnected living contexts of ONEs and their larger surroundings

3. Co-learning with people and non-human life holding tacit knowledge about their place and landscape

4. Appreciate and learn from processes and methods from other disciplines, artistic and creative practices

What you bring?

This course is open to learners from all research, practice and any disciplinary backgrounds. We are looking for the following qualities in the learners,

1. Learners keen to enhance their own creative, technological, artistic or research-based practices in the course

2. Curiosity to learn from the living contexts of Open Natural Ecosystems 

3. Discover new ways and modes of thinking and making 

4. Learn as part of a cohort to develop multiple aspects of Careful Collaborations

What will you make?

Our course will offer learning contexts, guided sessions on designing one’s own inquiry & methods, talks from diverse practitioners and learning scaffolding to practice listening and making. You can read the session plan below for more details.

You will be able to learn and explore a wide range of artefacts. The combination of form and medium is open and will be identified collaboratively within the respective cohorts in each of the tracks. Common outputs such as illustrated books, technological artefacts, VR/AR applications, curatorial works, fiction and non-fiction film and writing, services and systems design, envisioned entrepreneurial ecosystems, scenario construction, animations, participatory games, community archives, spatial designs in the public realm, community-driven museums and landscape designs are possible considerations, but will have to be evaluated with co-creation as the approach. 

Learning modes

The course is designed and facilitated in a hybrid mode (online + in-the-field). Learning is structured through common orientation sessions, creative explorations, collaborative field practice & making and public engagement. Every learner can choose one of the place-based tracks which aligns with each one’s learning expectations and relevance.

Course plan

Week 01 : ONEs & Learning Museum

Session 01 (online) | 6th January 2027: What are Open Natural Ecosystems? How to identify them through their qualities?

Session note: The session will introduce ONEs to the learners and get them to map the ONEs in and around the place of their living. In this session we will introduce Greater Hesaraghatta Conservation Reserve as living context for learners based in Bangalore. Learners who opt for fully online will choose a living context in and around their place of residence.

Session01: Learning Materials
Mapping India’s Open Natural Ecosystem - https://mdm.users.earthengine.app/view/open-natural-ecosystems
Open Natural Ecosystems of India - https://www.atree.org/one-map/
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/climate-change/india-finally-gives-its-wastelands-a-name-and-a-future

Session 02 (hybrid): Museum experiences to immersive learning - learning from the current discourse | 8th January 2027 | In-person 10:00 & Online 18:30

Session note: Museums are spaces for critical and public pedagogy for demographics across age groups. We will look at the ways in which museums have played a role in adult learning and enable creative practice research methods. The session will feature a curated walkthrough of the Museum of Art & Photography’s (MAP) permanent exhibition Beneath The Turning Sky. A short exercise on populating the nature of queries will be the culmination of the session.

Session02: Learning Materials
Learning Artefact - Introduction to the Fieldguide as a lighthouse document that will guide us through the course
Beneath the Turning Sky - A catalogue of the exhibitionwill be issued to the learners, which they can refer to during the course in addition to the virtual exhibition available on MAP’s website.
Virtual Exhibition - https://map-india.org/online-exhibitions/bts-virtual-tour/

Week 02 : Listening through a practice

Session 03 (online) | 11th January 2027 : Listening through Art (print & dye)

Session note: During this colour-making masterclass, participants will interact with Sudha Palepu on extracting inks from select botanical sources (like flowers, fruit and vegetable peels), using simple techniques. This exercise will be an opportunity for the participants to observe the natural world around them and pay attention to how colours exist in their natural form.

Sudha's Bio:
Sudha Palepu is a designer and natural pigment artist. She has worked on projects in the culture interpretation sector as an exhibition and communication designer since completing her Bachelors in Exhibition Design from NID, Ahmedabad. Continuing with her interest in the cultural sector, she attained her MA in Global Creative and Cultural Industries at SOAS, University of London. In 2019. Sudha was awarded the Getty Graduate Internship Grant to pursue a one year rigorous graduate internship at the J Paul Getty Museum's Design Department. Currently, her art and design practice in creating pigments and artworks from natural dyes is called Pans & Spaces, where she combines her interest in science with her experience in visual & spatial design.

Session03: Learning Materials
Palepu, S. (2021, December 23). Hibiscus flower Dye and Lake Pigment. Pans & Spaces. https://pansandspaces.com/2021/12/23/hibiscus-flower-dye-and-lake-pigment/
Kebelmann, J. (2020, July 17). Making lake pigments. Rebecca Desnos. https://rebeccadesnos.com/blogs/journal/making-lake-pigments/
Royal Society of Chemistry. (2021). How to make a lake pigment paint. RSC Education. https://edu.rsc.org/resources/how-to-make-a-lake-pigment-paint/1951.article

Session 04 (online) | 12th January 2027 : Listening through photography

Session note: We occupy and encounter places on an everyday basis, constructing and carrying an image of it in our minds. Each one of us construct a particular image that is unique to our worldview. In this session, Anjali Swamy, a dedicated wildlife enthusiast, photographer, and conservation volunteer with hands-on experience in bird and butterfly identification, field surveys, wildlife documentation, and community-based conservation work, will take us through her musings and curiosities through the lens. An art of listening to tell the untold stories, hidden emotions, and rhythms in an ecological setting.

Session04: Learning Materials
Banerjee, A. (2025, October 8). Reclaiming the Lens: Navigating Reflexivity and Resistance in Anthropology and Photography [Substack newsletter]. Brain Regurgitation. https://ankitban.substack.com/
Arabindoo, P., & Delory, C. (2020). Photography as urban narrative. City, 24(1–2), 407–422. https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2020.1739413
Braga, A., & Carvalho, B. (2020). Imagens do Povo: Visual narratives from the favelas towards a new city. City, 24(1–2), 364–375. https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2020.1739426

Week 03 : Listening through a practice

Session 05 (online) | 18th January 2027 : Listening through sounds

Session note: As humans our sensorial limits on how we experience a place is significant on how we remember or understand a place. In this session, Archit and Shreyas, will share their preliminary experiments with deep listening to the sounds that belong in the ecological setting of lake and grassland ecosystems in Bidar.

Session05: Learning Materials
Poff, Z. (2024a). Building A Simple Durable Contact Microphone. Zach Poff: Media Artist, Educator, Maker of Things. https://zachpoff.com/resources/building-contact-mics/
Poff, Z. (2024b). Choosing a Contact Mic For Field Recording. Zach Poff: Media Artist, Educator, Maker of Things. https://zachpoff.com/resources/choosing-a-contact-mic-for-field-recording/
Tablot-smith, M. (2022). Microphone Types. In Sound Engineering Explained (Secong). Focal Press.
Manner, B. (1996). Mic Patterns and Audio Connectors. In Film Production Technique. Wadsworth.
felixblume. (2021, February 13). DIY Hydrophone—Felix Blume. https://felixblume.com/hydrophone/

Session 06 (online) | 19th January 2027 : Listening through assembling

Session note: Listening within ecological webs brings attention towards the many connections and inter-relationships that exist in between more-than-human worlds. This session by Archit & Shreyas will introduce material assemblage as a practice in learning to see these relationships, staying with them and cultivating them.

Session06: Learning Materials
Hertz, T., and F. Bousquet. 2025. Knowledge that affects: an assemblage approach. Ecology and Society 30(1):27.https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-15734-300127
Heberling, M., & Hardy, M. (2025, May 12). Hope in the herbarium: A record of what is lost and found. Arnoldia, 81(2). Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. https://arboretum.harvard.edu/arnoldia-stories/hope-in-the-herbarium-a-record-of-what-is-lost-and-found/
Wexner Center for the Arts. (2019). Cecilia Vicuña: Lo Precario/The Precarious [Exhibition]. Ohio State University. https://wexarts.org/exhibitions/cecilia-vicuna-lo-precario-precarious

Week 04 : Explorations in Listening Practice [Milestone]

Session 07 (in-museum/virtual) | 4th February 2027 : Listening to exhibits

Session note: This session will bring learners back to the museum where they engage more deeply with the exhibits and start thinking of their inquiries within their thematic clusters. The cohort will be unpack various qualities to observe in a place. The collaborative groups will also put together a catalog of artefacts and the methods to listening at the Grasslands.

Session07: Learning Materials
Place-based Methos/Artefacts - https://app.notion.com/p/llncolab/25da989362584e77bb4d1d9d3ef6f712?v=1cfbfe54425244d69513c0ab3969a99f

Week 05 : Field Practice

Session 08 | 8th February 2027 → 12th February 2027 : Field practice to ONE

Session note: Learner groups will now start their fieldwork in their respective ONEs - those in Bangalore in Hesaraghatta, those in Bidar in Alur-Belur-Chatnal grassland patch and those outside in ONE closest to them. Groups will inititally get some orientation to the place through their learning artefacts which they continue to make as they deepen their thematic curiosities & inquiries.

Session 08: Learning Materials
Mapping India’s Open Natural Ecosystem - https://mdm.users.earthengine.app/view/open-natural-ecosystems
Open Natural Ecosystems of India - https://www.atree.org/one-map/

Week 06 : Cluster Presentation, Review & Exhibition

Session 09 | 17th February 2027 : presentation and assessment of the groups by invited review members

Session note: Review and feedback to the learner cohort by invited members

Session 10 | 20th February 2027 : Temporary show and tell of artefacts

Session note: Panel and walk-through with learners.

Apply now

Before the class

1. You will receive a fieldguide, a learning artefact developed by Living Labs Institute, which will be your companion, journal, reader, sketchbook, scribble pad etc

2. We will try to organise for an online meetup prior to commencement of the course, if we finish the admission process a week before the starting date of the course

3. You will receive a form to fill in your preference for travel & accommodation, especially those of you who choose track 01 or track 02.

4. You will receive a copy of Beneath The Turning Sky, publication about the ongoing exhibition, its exhibits, curation and its position. The cost of the book is included in the course fees.

5. You will receive an email with a guide to onboard on digital platforms that we will use during the course.

Communication channels

1. Southern Central Station discord server will be used for all online sessions, coordination and sharing of the learning materials.

2. Notion will be used for maintaining notes and submission of assignments

3. Nextcloud will be used for sharing files

4. Zotero will be used to share all references relevant to this course.

5. WhatsApp group for all fieldwork related coordination & communication with our community collaborators

6. All official communication will happen via emails

Assignment

1. Prepare a collaborative brief based on the curiosities emerging from the artworks in MAP exhibition.

2. Continuous progress of designing and revising the artefacts

3. Temporary show and tell at MAP

Review

1. This course has both individual and group review sessions

2. All the reviews are aligned with the moments when learners submit or present their assignments

3. All reviews are qualitative and within the bounds of the learning outcomes of this course.

Further References

1. Gowda, N., Mandava, M., & Birawat, K. (2024). Assessing the scale and impacts of planting exotics and invasives on Lakes in Bengaluru Urban and its surrounding districts. Paani.Earth.

2. My work on preserving the catchment of Hesaraghatta | Mahesh Bhat is a documentary photographer and educator based in Bangalore. (2019, October 18). https://www.maheshbhat.com/my-work-on-preserving-the-catchment-of-hesaraghatta/

3. Museum of Art and Photography. (2026). Beneath The Turning Sky. MAP India. https://map-india.org/online-exhibitions/bts-virtual-tour/

4. Doherty, G., & Waldheim, C. (2015). Is landscape... ? Essays on the identity of landscape. Taylor & Francis.

5. Roe, M., & Scott-Bottoms, S. (2020). Improvisation as method: Engaging ‘hearts and minds’ in the landscape through creative practice. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 47, 126547. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2019.126547

6. Menon, N. (2016, March 8). The ‘Non-Science’ Of Grabbing Grasslands And Promoting A Futuristic ‘Science City’: A.R.Vasavi. KAFILA - COLLECTIVE EXPLORATIONS SINCE 2006. https://kafila.online/2016/03/08/the-non-science-of-grabbing-grasslands-and-promoting-a-futuristic-science-city-a-r-vasavi/

7. Lury, C., Fensham, R., Heller-Nicholas, A., Lammes, S., Last, A., Michael, M., & Uprichard, E. (Eds.). (2020). Routledge Handbook of Interdisciplinary Research Methods (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315714523

8. Holmes, R. (2020). The Problem with Solutions. Places Journal. https://doi.org/10.22269/200714

9. Ortiz, C., & Millan, G. (2022). CRITICAL URBAN PEDAGOGY: Convites as Sites of Southern Urbanism, Solidarity Construction and Urban Learning. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 46(5), 822–844. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.13119