From Debris, We Rise is an amalgamation of recent works from M Pravat’s studio, which are all mimetic transmutations of the context it is nestled within, the village of Rajpur in Chattarpur, Delhi. Delhi, once a city, then a state, eventually began to spill into its neighbouring states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, encompassing the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR). Perhaps as an unconscious, residual impulse from Pravat’s early encounters with the experimental theatre scene in Kolkata where he grew up, and the villages of West Bengal, essaying plural roles as scenographer, prop designer, and voice actor, his practice consistently attempts to critically reinterpret and perform in the studio, processes that he observes in the world around him. The mise en scène is set by discarded debris from demolitions and constructions in Chattarpur that he collects and brings to his studio, which consequently comes to be doused in a veneer of brick dust. The sensorial environment of the construction site is mirrored by the studio as well with its temporary asbestos roof, pliability to the extreme climatic conditions of Delhi, and hazardous material residue, while also echoing its acoustics. Within its confines, he follows methods of making that are similar to those that are familiar to the building industry, collaborating with stone workers and brick masons to render works that speak to the urbanisation of the city. His process alternates between the subtractive Brechtian aesthetics that perhaps come to him from his engagement with theatre and an alchemical metamorphosing of drab debris into softer, delicate forms that reclaim the ugliness of redevelopment in the locality, which once used to be forested land. The works are material testimonies of infinite expansion, and abstract actors performing the logic of materialism. - Anushka Rajendran