Vanished Songs

 

Vanished Songs is a site specific installation that pays tribute to the bird species oncecommon in Ahmedabad/Gujarat’s skies but now disappearing due to habitat loss andurban expansion. Through this artwork, we aim to transform ecological grief into a visualarchive of memory, care, and awareness.Mounted on a 6ft x 8ft outdoor wall, the installation features eight delicate paper artworksof native bird species, handcrafted in The Paper Ark’s signature layered paper technique.Each bird is housed in a custom teakwood and museum glass box, evoking the feel ofantique ornithological displays. These boxes act as modern relics, protecting fragile memory in a world that has forgotten to look up.Each display is accompanied by a label detailing the species name, ecological function, musical tone of its call, and the year it was last widely seen in Ahmedabad/Gujarat.Together, they form a quiet yet compelling reminder of how fast we’re losing our birds with whom we once lived alongside.The installation draws attention to the silent disappearance of familiar birds, urging us to remember that extinction can happen quietly, in our backyards. What we preserve nowmay be all that remains tomorrow.