Chalai Market, the oldest and busiest street market place that lies at the heart of the Thiruvananthapuram city in South India, personifies the cultural diversity of the state in a resplendently candid manner. Contrasting the picturesque Kerala with mountains, backwaters and serene coastal belts, the Chalai market gives you a very different identity. Though the experience is equally magical, this historic market place offered a steady hive of activity in unrest.

However, for some years now, one can notice that many of the family businesses in the third generation have had to close their stores and especially the historic buildings are slowly disappearing. The inhabitants of the city prefer the comfortable supermarkets and larger shopping malls.

The exhibition and webpage project explores the phenomenon of disappearance and uses the medium of photography, which captures and freezes time through its documentary qualities.

In collaboration with the Goethe Center in Thiruvanathapuram and the Palnarindia agency, a storytelling page was developed.

Chalai, an audiovisual narrative by Nora Bibel

www.chalai.org