WHAT HOLDS UP CHILDHOOD: An Installation at the Bachpan Manao Sabha
At first glance, childhood looks light — a circle of children listening to a story, a burst of laughter on the playground, a room full of bright colours and wooden blocks. But look a little closer, and there’s something else at work: the care that makes it all possible.
“What Holds Up Childhood” is a visual and narrative installation created for the Bachpan Manao Sabha — a day of reflection and celebration centred on children, caregiving, and community.
This series was born out of field visits to community learning spaces in the Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya, where our teams observed and documented the daily rhythms of early learning centres — not just the activities, but the silent choreography that surrounds them.
Through handwritten-style letters, reflective prompts, and images from the field, this installation invites the viewer to slow down and notice the unseen:
- The hands that arrange storybooks before the children arrive.
- The eyes that spot a child standing alone.
- The feet that walk door to door checking why someone missed a class.
- The quiet voices that repeat the same sentence until a child understands.
Each panel centres around a moment — to read, to play, to eat, to learn, to dream — and lifts the veil on what’s usually considered ‘background’ work. This is care labour — often unpaid, gendered, and invisible — and yet, it is what holds up childhood day after day.
The installation doesn’t present answers. It asks questions. “Who helps each child find a seat?” “Who claps the loudest when a child gets the answer right?” Through these gentle provocations, we remind ourselves that care is not just what happens at home, but what happens in between every public system that claims to serve children.
In a wo
rld that celebrates outcomes and overlooks the work behind them, What Holds Up Childhood is a quiet refusal — a moment to sit with the dailiness of care, the persistence of those who notice, clean, carry, and keep coming back.
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