Deciphering Banyan Tree Networks

Trees are the natural vessels for archaeologies written, unwritten, spoken, and unspoken. “Deciphering Banyan Tree Networks” centers around the Banyan tree, also known as the strangling fig. Throughout history, the enigmatic biology of the Banyan tree has ensured itself special status in human societies, and many have tried to capture the Banyan’s potencies through poetry, metaphor, painting, resulting in many readings and interpretations. Amongst them, the Banyan tree has been imagined as an emblem of power, unifying and destructive, a symbol of nativeness, an all-encompassing metaphor for interconnectedness. This project is a multimedia installation that aims to weave micro and macro narratives surrounding the Banyan through a study of four species of strangling ficuses and four local spaces against history, plant biology, art, sociology, and politics.